7.".   rUoTHI.\<;iIA.M.  OCTAVmS  HK<  >(  IKS. 
i    Smitli.      A    Kio<;raphy.      Svo.      N.    V.. 
1878.  Oi~*KT 

Tlio    Vv-ry    rare    liist    i^lition    i-ontaiuiiig    the 
•'.lulut    Urnwn"   matter,    which    was   sup] 
imiiRHLatrly   on   publication.      Only   a    v« 
rr\  irwri>'  ropirs  with  tlifsc  pa.i:«'>  ,t:«it   into  c-ii1- 
culation. 


z  -  '/  ; 


University  of  California  •  Berkeley 


Gift  of  Marc  Gittelsota 


13<S%'  2,66 


GERRIT   SMITH 


A    BIOGRAPHY 


BY 


OCTAVIUS  BROOKS  FROTHINGHAM 


NEW    YORK 

G.    P.    PUTNAM'S    SONS 

182    FIFTH    AVENUE 
1878. 


Corv.iGHT,  1877,  C.  P.  PUTNAM  t  bo»s. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I.  PAGB 

PARENTAGE 5 

CHAPTER  II. 
HEALTH  38 

CHAPTER  III. 
RELIGION 44 

CHAPTER  IV. 
HUMANITY 94 

CHAPTER  V. 
TEMPERANCE , 144 

CHAPTER  VI. 
SLAVERY 160 

CHAPTER  VII. 
THE  WAR 267 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
THE  PEACE 304 

CHAPTER  IX. 
PHILANTHROPY 341 

CHAPTER  X. 
THE  END..  353 


LIFE    OF    GERRIT    SMITH. 


CHAPTER    I. 
PARENTAGE. 

TO  one  who  looks  into  the  beginnings  of  any  local 
society,  the  influence  of  individuals  is  apparent. 
The  interest  centres  in  a  few  men.  This  was  the  case 
in  central  New  York.  One  of  the  men  who  made  him 
self  felt  there  in  the  first  quarter  of  the  century,  was 
Peter  Smith.  He  was  born  in  Greenbush,  Rockland 
Co.,  November  15,  1768.  His  ancestors,  who  were 
Hollanders,  had  lived  and  died  there,  for  several  gen 
erations.  Petrus  Smith  died  January  24,  1767,  aged 
eighty  years,  two  months,  four  days.  Annitje  his  wife, 
died  January  i,  1803.  Gerrit  P.  Smith,  their  son, 
(born  June  15,  1743,  died  October  7,  1826)  married 
Wintje  Lent  (born  July  16,  1750,  died  at  her  son's 
house  in  Schenectady,  February  17,  1834).  Peter  was 
their  oldest  child.  They  lived  on  the  farm  near  Tap- 
pan,  which  was  made  famous  by  the  execution  of  John 
Andre".  Peter  was  about  twelve  years  old  when  that 
tragedy  was  enacted.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  or  there 
abouts  he  became  clerk  to  Abraham  Herring,  an  im 
porting  merchant  in  New  York  City.  At  this  time, 
it  is  said,  he  exhibited  the  taste  for  theatricals  that  is 
usual  with  very  young  men,  and,  as  an  actor  of  subor- 


6  LIFE  OF  CERRIT  SMITH. 

dinatc  parts  on  the  stage  of  the  old  Park  Theatre,  gave 
of  a  faculty  which  if  cultivated  and  directed 
might  have  enabled  him  to  shine  in  another  career. 
He  was  of  sensitive  temperament  and  quick  emotions, 
easily  moved  to  tears  by  consideration  of  his  religious 
duties  and  by  reflection  on  his  relations  to  the  Supreme 
Being  and  the  destinies  of  the  hereafter. 

Versatile  and  persuasive,  a  man  to  impress  himself 
on  others,  and  win  confidence,  his  clerk  life  was  suc 
ceeded  by  a  partnership  with  John  Jacob  Astor,  a  poor 
youth  like  himself,  but  like  himself  adventurous,  and 
endowed  with  the  qualities  that  ensure  success — patience, 
endurance,  industry,  and  the  sagacity  that  divines,  as  by 
instinct,  the  way  to  wealth.  They  kept  a  little  store  and 
traded  in  furs  which  they  procured  at  first  hand  from 
the  Indian  hunters  at  the  North.  It  was  their  custom 
in  the  summer  months  to  go  to  Albany  by  sloop,  thence 
on  foot  to  penetrate  into  the  interior  of  the  State,  mak 
ing  their  way  as  they  could  across  rivers,  swamps  and 
other  natural  barriers,  climbing,  wading,  swimming  until 
they  reached  the  tribes,  Mohawks,  Oneidas,  Cayugas, 
Senccas,  who  held  the  treasures  of  winter  spoil.  The 
price  paid  was  not  dear,  the  "  Indian  money  "  as  it  was 
called,  consisting  of  beads,  shells,  bits  of  glass,  of  no 
value  except  in  savage  eyes  ;— but  the  Indians  were  sat 
isfied,  and  helped  the  traders  to  transport  the  skins,  on 
man-back  and  by  canoe  to  Albany,  whence  they  were 
taken  down  the  river  to  New  York.  The  business  was 
fitable  for  those  times.  It  was  perhaps  to  make  it 
more  profitable  that  Smith  took  up  his  residence  in 
ntral  New  York,  in  the  valley  of  the  Mohawk,  and 
opened  an  Indian  trader's  store  in  a  corner  of  his  house, 


PETER   SMITH.  J 

on  what  is  known  as  the  Bleecker  property  at  Utica 
At  this  period  the  furs  were  sent  to  his  partner  in  New 
York.  But  other  interests  engrossed  him,  and  the  part 
nership  with  Mr.  Astor  was  dissolved.  Astor  bought 
real  estate  in  the  heart  of  the  city,  and  Smith  bought 
acres  in  the  centre  of  the  State. 

Two  little  pocket  journals  exist,  written  rudely  in 
pencil,  containing  notes  of  journeys  northward  from 
Albany,  in  the  summer  and  autumn  of  1822.  The  de 
scriptions  suggest  hardships  of  nearly  every  description  ; 
bad  roads,  scant  accommodations,  sparse  populations, 
hard  climates,  vile  weather,  but  they  disclose  a  sturdy 
resolve,  a  keen  vigilance,  an  appreciation  of  natural  ad 
vantages  and  a  foresight  into  future  possibilities,  an  in 
telligent,  humane  interest,  too,  in  the  prospects  of  civili 
zation,  such  as  belong  only  to  men  of  genuine  power. 
The  purchases  of  land  were,  even  at  the  start,  immense 
in  extent.  At  this  period  the  Indians  in  his  neighbor 
hood  outnumbered  the  whites,  who  were  mostly  Dutch. 
His  native  language  was  Dutch,  but  he  was  able  to  com 
municate  with  the  Indians,  and  even  to  address  them 
effectively  in  their  own  speech.  His  frequent  excursions 
in  search  of  skins  had  made  him  acquainted  with  the 
land  in  different  parts  of  the  State  and  given  him  hints 
in  regard  to  the  probable  sites  for  towns  and  villages, 
which  he  was  quick  to  act  on.  As  it  was  illegal  to  buy 
land  outright  from  the  Indians,  Mr.  Smith  leased  a  large 
tract  for  the  technical  ninety-nine  years,  and  then  by 
arrangement  with  the  authorities  obtained  permission  to 
purchase  a  tract  of  some  sixty  thousand  acres,  for  which 
he  paid  three  dollars  and  fifty-three  and  a  half  cents  per 
acre.  Of  this  enough  was  sold  at  auction  in  1802,  to 


8  LIFE  OF  CERR1T  SMITH. 

repay  the  purchase  money  and  still  leave  him  a  large 
estate.     Mortgages  on  the  lands  that  were  sold  on  credit 
were  transferred  to  the  State  in  discharge  of  his  indebt 
edness,  and  formed  in  part  the  capital  of  the  Common 
School  Fund.     The  tract  of  sixty  thousand  acres  was 
divided  into  four  parcels.     The  first  contained  seventy- 
four  lots ;  fifty-five  in  Oneida  County,  in  the  present 
town  of  Augusta  ;.  fourteen  in  Stockbridge,  and  five  in 
Smithfield.    The  second  contained  sixty  lots  ;  most  of 
them  in  the  present  town  of  Smithfield ;  the  rest  in  the 
adjacent    township   of    Fenner.     The   third    contained 
fifty-six  lots,  all  but  three  in  Fenner.     The  fourth  con 
tained  forty-seven  lots,  mostly  in  the  town  of  Cazenovia, 
then   in   Chenango  County.     Mr.   Smith,   then    Judge 
Smith,  was,  it  is  said,  the  largest  purchaser  of  land  in  the 
Oneida  Reservation,  embracing  nearly  the  whole  of  the 
Second  Assembly  District  of  Madison  County,  and  sev- 
rral  large  towns  in  Oneida  County,  which  was  sold  in 
s  of  various  sizes  and  shapes'to  speculators.     He 
largely  lands  that  were  sold  for  taxes,  often  at  a 
ominal  sum,  and  either  remained  in  his  hands 
nanent  possessions,  or  were  redeemed  at  enhanced 
Among  these  later  purchases,  were  eighty  thou- 
i  in  the  then  county  of  Oneida,  for  which  he 
to  the  State  three  dollars  an  acre.     Of  the  amount 
d  at  auction  in  Utica,  twenty-two  thousand  two  hun- 
d  ninety-nine  and  a  half  acres  remained  unsold. 
ghest  price  paid  was  eight  dollars  and  forty  cents 
v-hole  townships  of  unoccupied  land"  were 
bought    at   a  single    purchase.     Thus    Mr. 
*ame  one  of   the  largest  landholders   in  the 
Jmon,  certamly  the  largest  in  the  State.     His  posses- 


PETER   SMITH.  9 

sions  comprised  acres  by  the  hundred  thousand,  nearer 
a  million  than  half  a  million;  they  were  measured  by 
square  miles. 

Judge  Smith  resided  in  the  county  of  Madison  and 
presided  at  the  County  Court.  The  township  where  he 
lived  was  named  Smithfield,  and  the  village  Peterboro. 
Here  he  kept  open  house  and  exercised  generous  hos 
pitality.  He  was  one  of  the  burgomasters  of  his  day 
when  the  Dutch  Huguenots  and  the  active  merchants 
of  Holland  were  colonizing  and  civilizing  the  central 
portion  of  the  State.  The  Vanderke.mps  and  Schuylers 
and  Van  Rensselaers  and  Kips,  were  welcome  guests. 
The  great  landholder  could  be  social  and  even  jovial. 
His  latch-string  was  out  for  his  friends  ;  and  he  was  too 
wise  if  not  too  kindly  to  make  enemies.  To  the  last  he 
remained  on  good  terms  with  the  Indians  ;  the  Oneida 
chief,  Skenandoah,  was  a  friend  so  fast  that  Mr.  Smith 
named  his  first  born  son  after  him,  Peter  Skenandoah. 
In  fact,  his  influence  with  the  Indians  was  so  great  as  to 
cause  uneasiness  to  the  general  government,  which  dis 
patched  an  agent  to  break  up  what  threatened  to  be  an 
embarrassing  intimacy.  The  danger  however  was  im 
aginary.  The  agent  reported  accordingly,  and  the  savage 
associations  continued  as  long  as  he  lived  in  the  neigh 
borhood.  The  Indians  made  free  with  the  hospitality 
of  the  Peterboro  mansion,  camped  in  the  halls  and  out 
houses,  and  lay  loose  about  the  piazza,  not  always  de 
sirable,  though*  still  useful  visitors. 

To  those  who  knew  Judge  Smith  casually,  he  seemed 
a  hard,  sharp,  shrewd  man,  close  at  a  bargain,  selfish  and 
grasping,  too  much  occupied  with  himself  to  make  others 
happy,  or  to  be  genial  of  intercourse.  He  was  heavy  in 


I0  LIFE  OF  CERRIT  SMITH. 

build,  but  not  tall,  with  large  eyes  that  had  in  them  a 
gleam  of  wildness  which  was.at  times  almost  fierce.  In 
reality  he  was  a  man  of  quick  feelings,  and  sensitive. 
The  rude  note  books  above  referred  to  contain  inciden 
tal  touches  which  reveal  a  sense  of  justice,  a  homely 
kindness  of  heart ;  and  several  passages  display  the  pres 
ence,  and  fitful  working  of  religious  emotion,  more  im 
petuous  than  constant.  July  31,  1822,  "  I  feel  much 
relieved,  though  sick  and  feeble  still !  Thank  the  Lord, 
O  my  soul,  for  all  his  mercies,  in  whatever  shape  they 
may  come  !  I  am  snatched  as  it  were  from  the  grave  ! 
O  let  it  be  another  incentive,  so  to  number  my  remain 
ing  days  that  I  may  apply  my  heart  unto  wisdom  ! 
Man  times  and  plans,  God  disappoints!  Yet,  O  my 
soul,  praise  and  thank  his  holy  name  for  all  his  mercies  !  " 

Aug.  I,  "  Have  had  a  comfortable  night,  much  bet 
ter  than  could  have  been  expected.  I  hope  by  Saturday 
to  be  able  to  start  for  the  Plain.  O  heavenly  Father, 
fill  my  heart  with  gratitude,  in  consideration  of  all  the 
blessings  and  comforts  I  still  enjoy,  and  more  especially 
that  thou  hast  thus  far  sustained  me  through  this  vio 
lent  attack  of  a  dangerous  disorder.  Elder  Churchill 
has  just  been  with  me.  O,  what  pains  do  the  people  of 
God  take  to  cause  me  to  see  and  pursue  the  right  way  ! 
How  vile,  how  hardened  must  I  be  !  Rev.  Mr.  Corn- 
stock  has  just  left  me,  prayed  for  me.  O,  what  can  all 
this  mean  ?  Is  the  Lord  about  convincing  me  that  the 
last  opportunities  are  now  offered  ?  " 

Aug.  2,  "  Not  quite  so  comfortable,  yet  I  hope  by 
to-morrow  morning  to  move.  O,  may  all  these  dispen 
sations  of  Providence,  though  somewhat  afflictive,  only 
cause  me  to  take  and  keep  my  latter  end  in  mind  ! " 


PETER   SMITH.  II 

Aug.  5,  "  Have  had  a  comfortable  night,  and  still  no 
heart  to  thank  a  most  merciful  God  for  this  mercy." 

Aug.  24,  "  Just  now  saw  two  smart  Vermonters  going 
as  settlers  upon  Hoffman  township.  They  give  twenty 
dollars  an  acre.  I  am  very  much  worried  and  fatigued  ; 
very  little  attention  to  make  me  comfortable  at  this  tav 
ern.  O,  may  I  be  resigned  to  all  my  trials  !  Give  me, 
heavenly  Father,  a  contented  mind." 

Sept.  8,  Sunday,  "  Have  not  had  a  comfortable  night, 
spirits  too  much  agitated  this  morning  ;  intend  going  to 
meeting  at  -  -  five  and  a  half  miles  north  ;  may  the 
perturbations  of  my  mind  be  allayed  !  May  I  hear  at 
tentively  and  profitably  !  " 

Monday  morning,  "  Still  at  Esq.  Johnson's  ;  am  not 
very  well ;  mind  is  much  perplexed  regarding  concerns 
here.  Heard  two  sermons  yesterday,  from  Rev.  Mr. 
Comstock ;  the  one  in  afternoon  was  funeral  sermon,  a 
daughter  of  Mr.  Catlin,  about  — yrs.  of  age,  had  died 
suddenly — croup  I  expect.  *  Work  while  it  is  day,  for 
the  night  cometh,'  etc.  O,  could  I  be  persuaded  so  to 
do  !  But  this  stupidity !  This  unbelief!  " 

Sept.  30,  Monday,  "  Yesterday  we  had  reading  and 
prayer-meeting  here  ;  all  seems  to  have  no  lasting  effect 
on  my  slothful,  sluggish  mind.  I  read  much  and  good 
books,  but  when  I  lay  them  down,  the  world  is  instantly 
uppermost  !  Were  we  but  prepared  for  death !  We 
read  :  '  A  Christian's  death  is  the  best  part  of  his  exist 
ence  ! '  What  is  it  keeps  me  from  embracing  the  proffer 
of  the  Saviour!  O,  the  hardness  of  heart!  'Heaping 
up  wrath  against  the  day  of  wrath.'  O,  what  consum 
mate  folly !  O,  had  I  but  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ! 
What  shall  I  do  to  obtain  it !  O,  might  I  but  firmly  be- 


12  LIFE  OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 


lieve  in  that  Jesus  who  is  the  resurrection  and  the  life ! 
O,  for  grace,  for  saving,  divine  grace !  " 

Feeling  and  intellect  were  at  strife  in  the  man.,  He 
was  sincere,  but  could  not  make  up  his  mind. 

It  was  his  habit  to  leave  tracts  as  he  journeyed  on 
his  land  expeditions.  His  approach  to  a  settlement  was 
announced  by  small  placards  set  on  way-side  posts,  an 
nouncing  the  message  of  "  Eternity."  The  gospel 
trumpet,  in  the  similitude  of  a  horn,  blown  by  himself, 
heralded  his  near  presence.  Thus  he  plied  the  business 
of  two  worlds  at  once. 

Aug.  8,  1822,  "  I  have  here,  as  well  as  heretofore  on 
this  journey,  distributed  many  tracts,  but  not  half  as 
many  as  I  could  have  wished.  I  was  not  sufficiently 
supplied  ;  must  hereafter  on  my  journeys  be  more  atten- 
>  this.  At  Pittsburgh  I  presented  No  Fiction  to 
the  Misses  Davidson,  and  for  other  ladies,  Mrs.  Judge 
Matt.  Mrs.  General  Moers,  Mrs.  R.  H.  Wa.lworth  to  read. 
May  they  receive  good  from  it,  and  may  all  I  do  in  this 
way  result  in  good,  and  O,  might  it  to  my  own  soul !  " 

3n  his  removal  from  Peterboro  to  Schenectady,  in  the 
spring  of  1825,  he  made  systematic  arrangements  for  the 
continuance  of  this  pious  work. 

ith  view  to  take  up  residence  at  Sche 
nectady,  April  9,  1825. 

"  For  several  years  past,  I  Peter  Smith  of  Peterboro, 

From  time  to  time  supplied  myself  with  great  va- 

eligious  tracts,  and  some  larger  works,  and   in 

abitof  d,stributing  such,  in  my  frequent  excursions 

various  directions,  mostly  within  this   State,   from 

Kh  have  ^//derived  much  satisfaction,  and  I  hope 

many  otktn  have  been,  and  will  be  benefited  from  it! 


PETER   SMITH.  13 

My  intentions  are,  God  allowing  bodily  and  pecuniary 
ability,  to  continue  doing  the  like  ;  may  He  bless  the 
recipients  and  distributors  ! 

"  In  addition,  I  intend  to  make  deposit  with  suitable 
person,  in  neighborhoods  (more  particularly  where  the 
gospel  is  not  statedly  presented)  in  the  northern  and 
western  counties,  of  tracts,  say  from  one  hundred  to  one 
thousand,  according  to  circumstances,  with  request  that 
to  each  head  of  a  family,  one  tract  be  given,  the  like  to 
schools,  and  to  single  persons  not  attached  to  a  family, 
with  desire  they  may  be  exchanged  at  the  depository, 
from  time  to  time  ;  (to  deliver  to  such  only  who  intend 
to  make  the  exchanges,)  the  receivers  desired  to  keep 
the  tracts  neat  and  clean  as  may  be,  list  to  be  kept  of 
the  names  to  whom  tracts  in  first  instance  are  delivered 
— it  is  also  my  intention  from  time  to  time,  to  make  ad 
ditions  to  the  deposits,  especially  in  neighborhoods 
where  most  read. 

"  The  person  with  whom  deposits  are  made,  to  make 
report  at  the  end  of  every  year,  stating  whatever  may 
have  come  to  his  knowledge,  regarding  the  effects  (if 
any  observable)  produced  by  the  reading,  and  what  the 
encouragement  for  the  future. 

"  And  further  my  intention  is  (God  willing)  to  send  to 
friends  in  destitute  neighborhoods,  from  time  to  time, 
bundles  of  twenty-five,  thirty  or  forty  tracts  for  them 
selves  and  families  to  read,  with  request  to  loan  to  such 
of  their  neighbors  as  will  read  them." 

NEW  YORK  STATE  TRACT  SOCIETY. 

Albany,  ist  June,  1825. 

Peter  Smith  Esq.  having  submitted  to  us  a  circular  letter  to 
accompany  deposits  of  tracts  in  various  places  in  the  interior  of  the 


14  LIFE  OF  CERRIT  SMITH. 

State,  we  are  constrained  to  express  our  great  gratification  in  his 
original  and  systematic  efforts  for  planting  tracts.  We  persuade 
ourselves,  the  plan  will  lead  to  the  establishment  of  auxiliary  tract 
societies  in  those  places  where  his  deposits  may  be  made  :  and  we 
hope  that  the  persons  to  whom  he  shall  entrust  the  pleasing  labor 
of  circulating  the  tracts,  will  set  that  desirable  result  before  them 
as  the  object  of  their  aim.  No  matter,  in  the  first  instance,  how 
small  the  societies  may  be. 

Another  pleasing  view  of  this  subject  is,  that  these  deposits  will, 
in  many  instances,  be  the  germs  of  lending  libraries :  a  plan  of 
operation  which  has  been  extensively  adopted,  within  a  year  or  two, 
in  Europe ;  and  the  happy  effects  of  which  are  spoken  of  in  the 
highest  terms,  in  many  of  the  annual  reports  of  religious  societies 
of  the  past  year. 

W.  A.  Tweed  Dale  ] 
Nath'l  Davis 

Aaron  Hand  I    Executive 

Nahum  Rice  Committee. 

John  Willard  I 

EBEN'R  WATSON,  Corresponding  Secretary. 

To 

Dear  Sir  —  I  take  pleasure  in  making  an  addition  to  the  de 
posit  of  religious  tracts  heretofore  made  with  you  ;  accompanying  are 
standard  tracts,  alt  different  from  the  former.  I  not  only  hope  that 
yourself  will  take  pleasure  in  reading,  and  in  putting  and  keeping 
tkfu  with  the  former  ones  in  lively  and  continued  circulation,  but 
that  your  neighbors  near  may,  by  their  attentive  perusal  of  them, 
manifest  a  due  sense  of  the  opportunity  afforded.  The  more  these! 
and  the  like  books,  are  read,  the  more  we  may  expect  the  cause  of 
religion  and  morality  to  be  promoted. 

I  am  gratified  in  having  it  in  my  power  to  inform,  that  the  New 
Yact  Society  have  resolved  to  forward  you  a  copy  of  the 
York  Tract  Magazine,  without  charge  to  yourself,  save  the 
postage. 

am  greatly  encouraged  in  the  prospect  (having  communication 
rent  quarters)  that  our  expense  and  labor,  in  these  mat- 
ers.  will  not  prove  in  vain. 

Wishing  you  happiness  in  this  world,  and  in  that  which  is   to 
I  remain  your  friend, 

PETER  SMITH. 

•  Herewith  be  pleased  to  receive  the  tracts  and  books 
i  below,  as  an  addu.on  to  my  former  deposits,  for  loaning  to 


PETER   SMITH.  1 5 

families  and  others  in  your  place  and  neighborhood.  I  anticipated 
much  satisfaction  from  the  effects  of  my  former  deposits  of  tracts, 
but  I  make  the  present  addition  with  increased  satisfaction,  from 
the  great  avidity  with  which  (I  am  informed  from  many  quarters) 
they  have  been  sought  after  and  read,  and  the  decided  good  which, 
in  some  instances,  they  have  produced.  And  why  should  they  not 
be  sought  after,  and  why  should  they  not  do  good  ?  Though  in 
form,  of  all  things  the  most  unpretending,  they  are,  in  fact,  most 
powerful  preachers  to  the  heart  and  conscience.  In  their  subject 
they  are  second  to  nothing  that  can  be  presented  to  the  mind  of  an 
immortal,  for  they  treat  of  his  eternal  happiness  or  misery.  In  their 
execution  they  may  be  justly  styled  the  elegant  extracts  of  theological 
literature  ;  for  they  are  the  productions  of  some  of  the  soundest 
heads  and  the  purest  hearts  which  bless  our  world  ;  a  greater  proof 
of  excellence  can  hardly  be  given  of  a  man's  writings,  than  to  honor 
them  with  a  place  in  the  series  of  the  American  Tract  Society. 
When,  therefore,  their  worth  is  considered  on  the  one  hand,  and 
their  necessity  on  the  other,  from  the  destitution  of  the  stated  ordi 
nances  of  the  gospel,  with  which  the  heart  of  every  man  of  proper 
feelings  is  pained,  who  traverses  any  considerable  portion  of  the 
State,  (particularly  the  northern  and  south-western  sections,)  it  is  no 
matter  of  surprise  that  they  are  almost  universally  interesting  and 
extensively  beneficial.  Much  has  my  heart  been  rejoiced  by  the  re 
lation  of  the  effects  produced  by  those  I  have  deposited,  in  many 
places,  destitute  of  almost  all  religious  privileges. 

With  these  views,  I  am  very  desirous  of  extending  their  circula 
tion  much  beyond  my  deposits.  One  of  the  principal  designs  in 
planting  a  few  tracts  and  books  in  various  places  is,  that  they  may, 
in  due  season,  bring  forth  fruit,  in  the  establishment  of  Auxiliary 
Tract  Societies.  There  are  many  important  advantages  to  be  de 
rived  from  such  societies,  which  will  readily  occur  to  your  reflection. 
While,  therefore,  I  confirm  my  former  instructions,  for  the  mode  of 
circulating  the  deposits  entrusted  to  your  kind  care,  I  now  propose, 
for  the  purpose  of  encouraging  the  establishment  of  Auxiliary  So 
cieties,  that  the  tracts  and  books  in  your  charge,  as  my  depositary, 
shall  be  considered  as  a  donation  from  myself,  to  any  society  that 
shall  hereafter  be  established  in  your  neighborhood,  auxiliary  to  the 
New  York  State  branch  of  the  American  Tract  Society,  which  shall 
raise  by  an  annnal  subscription,  in  the  outset,  a  sum  not  less  than 
—  dollars.  To  facilitate  that  measure  I  send  herewith  a  printed 
form  of  a  constitution,  which  has  been  recommended  by  the  Ameri 
can  Tract  Society :  you  will  readily  perceive  the  propriety  of  my 


1 6  LIFE  OF  C ERR  IT  SMITH. 

being  apprised  of  the  measure  when  adopted.  Should  a  county 
Branch  Tract  Society,  be  hereafter  established  in  your  county,  which 
I  hope  may  shortly  be  done,  it  will  doubtless  be  expedient  for  the  local 
auxiliaries  to  connect  themselves  directly  with  the  county  Branch. 

Those  justly  and  highly  valued  publications,  the  New  York 
Tract  Magazine,  and  the  Children's  Friend,  will  be  continued  to 
you.  Should  your  sets  from  any  means  not  be  complete,  state  in 
writing,  by  private  opportunity,  what  numbers  are  lacking,  to 
Etxnesrr  Watson,  Esq..  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  New  York 
Slate  Branch  of  the  American  Tract  Society,  in  Albany,  he  will 
forward  the  deficient  numbers  by  return  of  the  same  person. 

May  the  blessing  of  God  accompany  the  labors  of  those  who 
strive  to  supply  the  needy  with  spiritual  food,  is  the  prayer  of 
Your  sincere  friend  and  very  humble  servant, 

PETER  SMITH,  of  Peter boro. 

Standard  Tracts, 

4  Page  do. 

Broad  sheet  do. 

Hand  bill  do. 

Children  s  Books, 

And  one  Christian  Almanack. 

N.  B.  It  is  hoped  you  will  cause  such  of  the  tracts  as  are  not 
covered,  to  be  so  before  you  loan  them. 

Dear Herewith  you  will  receive standard  tracts, 

four  page  do. Christian  Almanack.  Although  I  am  constrained 

to  confess,  I  have  not  generally,  within  the  last  year,  received  that 
encouragement  from  my  various  depositories  that  I  had  anticipated, 
and  did  for  previous  years,  and  although  I  sometimes  feel  almost  in 
clined  to  give  up  the  expense  and  labor  of  obtaining,  depositing  and 
distributing  tracts,  in  manner  I  am  doing  and  have  done  in  years 
past ;  then  again,  we  may  hope  for  good  account  of  bread  cast  upon 
the  waters  (if  not  immediately)  after  many  clays so  try  again. 

Let  me  entreat  >ou,  my  dear to  manage  the  books  and  tracts 

n  your  charge  to  the  best  advantage;  put  and  keep  them  in  lively 

ulation,  and  let  us  pray  with  hope,  that  good  may  proceed  from 
our  exertions.  If  we  do  not  observe  the  good  effects  in  time,  that  we 
may  in  eternity. 

Affectionately, 

I  am  your  friend, 

And  exceeding  well  wisher. 

P.  SMITH,  of  Peter boro. 


PETER   SMITH.  IJ 

Dear  Sir Since  I  last  sent  you  a  package  of  tracts,  another 

year  has  passed,  admonishing  us  by  its  rapid  flight,  that  our  "  time  is 
short,"  and  that  we  must  do  quickly  what  remains  for  us  to  do. 

I  trust  that  the  tracts  you  have  hitherto  received  from  me,  have 
not  been  without  some  good  effect  in  arresting  the  careless  sinner, 
and  in  quickening  the  zeal  of  the  pious  believer.  May  the  Lord's 
blessing  accompany  the  little,  preachers  I  now  send  you,  and  make 
them  the  messengers  of  comfort,  and  joy,  and  salvation  to  many. 

It  will  afford  me  great  gratification  to  receive  from  you  an  occa 
sional  letter,  telling  me  of  some  good  thing  in  the  history  of  your 
tract  depository.  Especially  will  it  gratify  me  to  hear,  that  Chris 
tians  in  your  neighborhood  prize  this  little  establishment,  and  com 
mend  it  to  the  blessings  of  Him  who  hears  and  rewards  prayer. 
With  affectionate  regard, 

Your  sincere  friend, 
PETER  SMITH,  of  Peterboro. 

Dear  Sir,  Through  the  providence  of  God,  I  am  again  permitted 
to  address  you  upon  the  subject  of  tracts  ;  I  have  confidence  it  is  a; 
subject  that,  with  yourself  has  not  become  stale.  We  are  greatly 
encouraged  to  persevere  in  furnishing  and  circulating  these  silent 
unassuming  preachers.  We  have  accounts,  almost  daily,  through 
the  newspapers  and  otherwise,  where  the  use  of  tracts  has  been 
greatly  blessed.  Myself  am  favored  with  communications  from  sev 
eral  depositaries,  stating  that  under  God,  great  good  has  been  pro 
duced  through  the  means  of  tracts  in  their  respective  neighborhoods. 
If  within  the  bounds  of  your  circulation,  no  material  effects  are  as 
yet  discernible,  do  not  therefore  be  discouraged  nor  slacken  your 
hand,  but  continue  to  distribute.  In  some  ground  seed  lies  longer 
than  in  other,  before  it  springs  up  and  yields  fruit ;  we  must  sow  in 
hope. 

The  publications  with  which  I  furnish  my  depositaries  are  in  the 
language  of  an  able  and  faithful  minister  of  the  word  of  God,  "  free 
from  everything  sectarian.  Instead  of  exciting  the  jealousy  of  the 
different  denominations  of  Christians,  they  are  eminently  calculated 
to  strengthen  the  bonds  of  brotherly  love  among  the  friends  of  truth, 
and  make  them  feel  they  are  disciples  of  the  same  master." 

Herewith  I  forward  to  you standard  tracts,  from  twelve  to 

forty-four  pages  each, of  four  pages,  and  one  on  cholera.  I 

trust  you  will  make  them  productive  of  the  greatest  good  in  your 
po^ver,  by  lending  out,  receiving  in,  and  lending  again  and  again  I 
By  frequently  conversing  with  your  neighbors  upon  the  subject  of 


1 8  LIFE  OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

their  contents ;  and  above  all,  by  prayer  to  God  for  his  blessing 
upon  our  doings  in  this  behalf. 

May  we  live  to  see  great  beneficial  results  proceeding  from  our 
labor  in  this  cause,  and  that  it  may  be  sanctified  to  our  souls,  is  the 
prayer  of  Your  sincere  friend, 

PETER  SMITH,  of  Peterboro. 

Dear  Sir  —  Let  us  continue  in  well  doing,  and  not  be  wearied. 
Having  laid  our  hands  to  the  plough,  not  look  back.  Although  the 
fruits  of  our  labor  and  expense,  may  not  show  itself  as  frequent  and 
abundant  as  we  could  wish  ;  yet  we  must  hope  it  will  appear,  not 
only  in  the  present,  but  in  generations  when  we  and  our  doings 
shall  be  forgotten.  In  this  belief,  I  continue  to  furnish  the  Silent 

Preacher.    Herewith    you   will    receive standard   tracts, 

four  page  tracts,  and Christian  Almanack.     I  again  take  the 

liberty  of  soliciting  that  yourself  may  not  cease  striving  to  cause 
them  to  be  read  by  all  classes  and  ages. 

May  you  be  abundantly  rewarded  for  the  faithful  discharge  of 
your  agency,  in  time  and  in  eternity,  is  the  prayer  of 
Your  friend  and  exceeding 

Well  wisher, 
PETER  SMITH,  of  Peterboro. 

Be  pleased  to  cover  such  of  the  tracts  as  are  not,  before  you 
loan  them. 

i 

Dear  Sir  —  Another  year  has  gone  by  since  I  penned  my  tract 
circular  number  six,  and  five  years  since  number  one.  How  many 
I  may  still  be  permitted  to  write  and  you  receive,  is,  for  wise  pur 
poses,  hid  from  us  ;  may  we  but  do  our  duty  while  it  is  to-day,  of 
the  morrow  we  are  not  assured. 

Let  me  entreat  you,  my  dear  sir,  to  make  the  most  of  these  silent 

teachers,  which,  from  time  to  time.  I  am  putting  into  your  charge. 

them  have  free  circulation.    We  have  numerous  accounts  of  re- 

g^ious  tracts  having  been  the  means,  under  God,  of  showing  the 

sinner  the  true  state  of  his  heart,  and  of  producing  in  him  a  right 

mind. 

Herewith  are  covered  tracts, 

four  page  do. 
Christian  Almanack. 

I  will  esteem  it  a  favor,  occasionally,  to  hear  from  you  upon  the 
ci  of  tracts;  the  more  especially,  if  any  good  effects  from  the 


PETER   SMITH,  19 

reading1,  in  any  inance,  are  visible.  I  am  very  desirous  that  all  the 
families  in  your  nc;hborhood  should  in  turn  have  the  use  of  all  you 
receive  from  me.  May  God's  blessing  accompany  our  labors  in 
this  cause  !  la),  indeed,  your  well  wisher  for  time  and  eternity, 
and  very  respec 

Your  ob't  servant, 

PETER  SMITH,  of  Peter boro. 

Dear  Sir  —  I  ow  deposit  with  you,  and  under  your  particular 
charge  —  -  RLIGIOUS  TRACTS.  I  beg  the  favor  that  you  give 
ONE  to  each  head>f  a  family  in  your  neighborhood,  to  teachers  of 
schools,  and  to  ngle  persons  not  attached  to  a  family,  with 
request  that  they  i  read  and  exchanged,  one  for  another,  from  time 
to  time.  Deliver  i^m  to  such  only  as  engage  to  make  the  exchange 
and  entreat  that  ir  tracts  be  preserved  neat  and  clean.  You  will 
keep  a  list  of  the  imes  to  whom  tracts,  in  the  first  instance,  are 
given  and  annex  tr  same  hereunto. 

My  intention  to  continue  this  deposit,  and  occasionally  to 
make  additions  tot ;  especially,  if  you  shall  deem  that  so  doing 

may  be  profitable.  Hence  I  must  beg  that  at  the  end  of you 

make  report,  in  wring  directed  to  me  at stating,  as  far  as  you 

are  able  to  ascert:-, .  the  effects  the  tracts  have  produced,  and  any 
other  facts  you  mr  rhink  proper. 

May  the  Lord  p)sper  this  the  labor  of  our  hands. 
I  am  very  respectfully, 

Your  friend  and  well  wisher, 
PETER  SMITH. 

Mr.  Smith,  o  the  5th  February,  1792,  married  Eliza 
beth,  daughter  f  James  Livingston,  of  Montgomery 
County.  She  \\i  born  in  Lower  Canada,  May  1 8,  17/3. 
Col.  Livingston  er  father  was  born  in  New  York,  March 
27,  1747.  He  \\s  a  graduate  of  Columbia  College,  and 
a  lawyer  in  Moireal  until  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolu 
tionary  War,  wha  he  fled  to  the  United  States  with 
three  hundred  len,  and  joined  the  American  army. 
He  was  colonel  c  a  New  York  regiment,  fought  against 
Sir  William  Johr.on  at  Johnstown,  and  assisted  Mont 
gomery  and  Arnld  in  the  assault  on  Quebec,  leading 


2o  LIFE  OF  CERRIT  SMITH. 

the  diversionary  attack  on  Fort  Diamond ;  was  at  the 
head  of  his  regiment  when  Burgoyne  was  taken,  and 
shared  in  other  actions  of  the  war.  His  ancestors  for 
four  generations  had  lived  in  America,  the  first  Liv 
ingston,  Robert,  coming  in  1674.  The  Livingstons  in 
termarried  with  the  Van  Rensselaers,  the  Schuylers,  the 
Tenbroecks.  The  wife  of  Peter  Smith  was  second  cousin 
to  Chancellor  Livingston.  She  died  in  Utica,  Aug.  27, 
1818.  Mr.  Smith  married  a  second  time  Sarah  Pogson, 
of  Charleston,  S.  C,  a  lady  of  English  birth.  Her  tastes 
were  literary,  and  more  social  than  suited  the  reserved, 
taciturn  and  fractious  man.  The  union  was  an  unhappy 
one.  The  wife,  after  the  experiment  of  an  absence  in 
England,  finally  left  her  husband  and  returned  to  her 
old  home,  where  she  died  at  an  advanced  age,  after  the 
close  of  the  civil  war.  The  references  to  her  in  Mr. 
Smith's  letters  to  his  son,  indicate  a  bitterness  of  feeling 
that  was  long  and  keen,  but  give  no  clue  either  to  the 
nature  or  the  occasion  of  the  alienation. 

Judge  Smith  had  six  children  ; — Cornelia  Wyntje, 
Peter  Skenandoah,  Gerrit,  and  Adolphus  Lent,  were  the 
only  ones  that  reached  maturity.  All  are  now  dead. 

At  the  time  of  his  first  wife's  death, — a  woman  for 
whom  one  at  least  of  her  children  cherished  a  warm 
affection  and  had  a  tender  reverence  to  the  last  of  his 
life— Judge  Smith  became  melancholy  and  disinclined 
to  business.  In  October,  1819,  he  made  arrangements 
to  put  out  of  his  hands,  into  those  of  his  second  son,  his 
whole  estate  real  and  personal,  valued  at  about  $400,000, 
on  condition  that  his  debts,  amounting  to  $75,000  should 
be  paid,  that  he  should  receive  the  income  of  $125,000, 
and  that  one  half  of  the  remainder  should  be  divided 


PETER   SMITH.  21 

equally  among  the  children  of  his  other  son  and  the 
children  of  his  daughter.  This  done,  the  active  man, 
then  scarcely  past  the  prime  of  life,  left  the  family  man 
sion  in  Peterboro.  In  April,  1825,  he  took  up  his  resi 
dence  in  Schenectady,  where  he  died  of  heart  disease, 
April  13,  1837.  His  second  wife  brought  him  no  off 
spring.  His  last  years  were  outwardly  tranquil,  but  as 
a  force  he  was  no  longer  felt.  The  nick-name  "  The 
saw-mill "  bestowed  on  him  by  the  Indians,  hardly  ap 
plied  to  the  quiet  man,  who,  alone  in  his  age,  withdrew 
more  and  more  within  himself,  brooding  over  the  other 
world,  which,  in  his  active  years,  he  felt  he  had  too  much 
neglected.  He  was  far  from  happy.  His  frequent  letters 
to  Gerrit  prove  that  the  natural  infirmities  of  his  disposi 
tion  increased  when  the  pressure  of  active  business  was 
taken  off.  The  same  curious  mixture  of  worldly  with 
other  worldly  anxieties  that  characterized  the  journals,  is 
prominent  here,  only  the  former  are  more  peevish,  and 
the  latter  more  helpless.  Complaints  of  loneliness,  pious 
ejaculations,  lamentations,  regrets,  reproaches,  restless  de 
sires  to  be  elsewhere,  groans  over  the  vanity  of  his  life  and 
of  all  life,  morbid  uneasiness  about  the  health  of  his 
body  and  the  destiny  of  his  soul,  remonstrances  with 
Gerrit  for  giving  too  much  to  the  missionaries,  make 
strange  confusion  in  the  sentences.  He  was  on  the 
verge  of  hypochondria,  a  trouble  to  himself,  and  a  vexa 
tion  to  those  about  him.  The  example  of  such  a  man 
is  a  warning  to  active  men  not  to  let  go  the  practical  in 
terests  which  keep  their  powers  in  vigorous  play.  Most 
of  all  does  the  warning  come  home  to  those  who  need 
the  weight  of  earthly  affairs  to  counteract  the  illusions 
of  fancy,  and  the  teasings  of  an  emotion  that  is  un- 


22  LIFE  OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

trained  and  unreconciled  with  the   realities  of  human 
existence. 

The  fourth  child  of  Peter  Smith  and  Elizabeth  his 
wife  was  born   in  Utica,  March   6,  1797.     About  five 
years  after,  the  family  removed  to  Whitesboro,  Oneida 
County.     In  January,  1806,  Gerrit  and  his  brother,  ac 
companied  by  a  domestic,  Mary  Thomas,  went  to  Peter- 
boro,  Madison  County.     The  rest  of  the  family  followed 
in  February.     On  the  first  of  January,  1813,  the  two 
brothers  left  home  for  the  academy  at  Clinton,  Oneida 
County,  to  spend  some  years  in  a  course  of  education. 
Peter,  in  a  year  or  two,  went  back  to  his  home ;   but 
Gerrit,  whose  bent  was  intellectual,  and  in  whose  men 
tal  training  his  father  seems  to  have  taken  a  peculiar 
interest,  encouraging   especially  his  oratorical    powers, 
staid  in  Clinton,  entered  Hamilton   College,  (an  insti 
tution  that  grew  out  of  the  academy,  and   received  its 
charter  from  the  State  in  1812,)  and  was  graduated  with 
honors  in   1818,  under  the  presidency  of  Rev.  Henry 
.  the  successor  of  Dr.  Azel  Backus,  who  had  died 
I  before.     On  the  day  of  graduation  the  class 
fity-three  was  reduced  to  ten.    Smith  delivered  the 
ictory  oration,  which  was  allowed  a  length  of  fifteen 
the  other  parts  being  limited  to  ten.     In  col- 
Smith  was  an   excellent  scholar,  not  recluse,  but 
had  a  fine  mind,  interested  in  the  newest 
\  and  opinions,  was  an  enthusiastic  reader  of  the 
the   period,  especially  the  Letters  of  Junius 
re  making  a  stir  just  then,  a  warm  partisan  in 
»ions  of  the  day,  hospitable  in   his  literary 
cs,  with  a  hearty  appreciation  of  the  best  things  in 
md   verse  and   an   enthusiastic   sympathy   with 


PETER   SMITH.  2$ 

generous  sentiments.  It  is  quite  likely  he  referred  to 
himself  when  in  after  years  he  describes  some  who 
aspired  to  the  fame  of  possessing  genius,  on  the  strength 
of  "  flowing  hair  and  the  broad  Byron  collar,"  the  latter 
being  one  of  his  own  peculiarities  to  the  end  of  his  life. 
As  a  youth  he  was  remarkably  handsome  in  person,  the 
admiration  of  ail  beholders.  His  manners  were  open, 
his  bearing  was  cordial,  his  action  graceful  and  winning. 
His  popularity  was  universal,  and  the  social  turn  of  his 
disposition  carried  him  into  the  games,  entertainments, 
collegiate  and  extra-collegiate  amusements  of  his  com 
panions.  He  was  gay  and  sportive,  but  never  vicious, 
or  in  the  vulgar  sense,  "  wild."  He  was  an  innocent, 
joyous  youth,  not  averse  to  noisy  but  harmless  pranks, 
having  no  prejudice  against  a  game  of  cards,  but  rather 
a  passion  for  them.  He  records,  himself,  that  in  a  club 
of  card  players  "  to  which,"  he  wrote  afterwards,  "  it 
was  my  unhappiness  and  wickedness  to  belong,"  his 
nick-name  was  "  Old  Mariner,"  and  that  he  played 
cards  for  stakes  on  Sunday.  It  is  related  that  on  one 
occasion  when  uproar  was  at  its  height,  the  tutor's  omi 
nous  rap  was  heard  at  the  door.  There  was  another 
door  at  which  the  young  rioters  made  hasty  retreat. 
Smith  remained,  and  flung  himself,  face  downward,  on 
the  floor  behind  a  desk.  The  tutor  espied  the  prostrate 
form,  and  demanded  an  account  of  it.  Who  is  it  ? 
"Gerrit  Smith,  sir."  Well,  Smith,  what  are  you  about? 
"  Meditating  on  the  mutations  of  empire."  The  tutor, 
not  pausing  for  admonition,  retired,  professing  briefly  his 
satisfaction  at  finding  Smith  so  profitably  employed. 
The  character  he  bore  among  his  mates  is  indicated  by 
an  inscription  on  the  fly  leaf  of  a  copy  of  Byron's 


24  LIFE  OF  GERKIT  SMITH. 

"  Siege  of  Corinth,"  presented  by  his  bosom  friend,  F. 
\V.  Haight,  "to  his  sincere,  affectionate,  sentimental, 
poetic,  ambitious,  superior-minded,  noble,  generous, 
honest,  honorable,  jealous,  deceitful,  hoaxing,  partial, 
epicurean,  gambling  Smith,  as  token  of  high  esteem. 
Hamilton  College,  July  23,  1816."  The  piety  that  was 
so  fervent  in  his  later  years,  was  not  conspicuous  in  these 
college  days.  The  son  of  a  rich  man,  he  dressed  care 
fully,  lived  well,  and  was  becomingly  free  in  expense ; 
but  it  is  not  in  the  memory  of  his  mates  that  he  spent 
money  in  hurtful  dissipations  of  any  kind.  It  is  clearly 
in  their  recollection  that  he  detested  meanness,  niggard 
liness,  selfishness,  injustice ;  that  he  invariably  took  the 
part  of  the  weak  against  the  strong,  of  the  wronged 
against  the  wronger,  of  the  oppressed  against  the  op 
pressor,  and  never  failed  to  win  the  hearts  of  the  noble 
in  soul.  His  destination  was  the  profession  of  law,  for 
which  his  abilities  and  general  mental  aptitudes  peculiar 
ly  qualified  him,  but  domestic  events  changed  his  career. 
Mr.  Smith's  interest  in  Hamilton  College  con 
tinued  hearty  throughout  his  life ;  so  hearty  that  he 
could  not  bear  to  have  it  seem  unfaithful  to  the  highest 
concerns  of  education,  and  during  the  presidency  of  Dr 

111—1833-1835— his  discontent  reached  the  point 
indicated  by  the  following  entry  in  his  Journal.  "Aug. 
12,  1834.  I  went  to  Clinton  to  attend  the  meeting  of 

rustees  of  the  college.  Returned  next  day,  not 
having  remained  to  attend  Commencement.  Probably 

la   the  last   meeting  of  the  trustees  of  the   college 

i  I  shall  attend."     But  in   1835,  at  the  resignation 

President  Dwight,  we  find  him  proposing  a  plan  for 

paying  the  debt  on  the  institution,  and  loaning  the  col- 


PETER   SMITH.  2$ 

lege  five  thousand  dollars  for  the  scheme.  He  also  ac 
cepts  a  place  on  the  committee  for  obtaining  a  new 
president.  The  following  letters  tell  their  own  story. 

Hamilton  College,  Clinton,  N.  Y.,  April  33,  1873. 

HON.  GERRIT  SMITH,  LL.D. 

My  Dear  Sir  —  I  reached  Clinton  last  week  after  an  absence 
of  eight  months  in  Europe.  One  of  my  first  walks  was  to  our  college 
cemetery,  where  I  always  find  some  good  inspiration.  I  was  pained 
to  see  the  monument  to  President  Backus  is  falling  to  pieces.  It  is 
a  cheap  and  hollow  structure,  made  of  marble  slabs.  If  it  were  dur 
able,  it  would  be  wholly  unfit  to  stand  by  the  grave  of  a  hero,  whose 
solid  greatness  would  be  more  fitly  symbolized  by  solid  granite. 

How  shall  this  wrong  to  the  memory  of  our  first  and  greatest 
President  be  righted  ?  The  college  is  so  needy  that  the  grave  of  its 
founder,  Dominie  Kirkland,  still  waits  for  an  epitaph  in  marble.  The 
monument  to  President  Davis  was  erected  by  his  son,  Hon.  Thomas 
T.  Davis.  It  is  costly,  massive  and  permanent.  The  monuments  to 
Dr.  Noyes  and  Professor  Catlin  were  erected  by  their  executors. 

You  see  whither  I  am  drifting  ? 

I  write  to  ask  if  you  could  make  a  worthier  use  of  five  hundred 
or  a  thousand  dollars,  than  to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  Dr.  Backus 
in  marble  or  in  granite  ?  The  inscriptions  on  the  marble  slabs  now 
broken  and  crumbling  are  very  appropriate.  These  could  be  trans 
ferred  to  the  new  monument.  Then  all  who  visit  the  cemetery  would 
be  spared  the  pain  of  seeing  in  the  Backus  monument  a  crumbling 
satire  on  the  Scriptural  promise  that 

"  The  righteous  shall  be  in  everlasting  remembrance." 

If  I  seem  to  be  rude  or  intrusive  in  what  I  suggest,  I  beg  you  will 
forgive  me  and  place  it  to  the  account  of  my  reverence  for  one  of 

"  The  few  immortal  names  that  were  not  born  to  die." 
With  the  highest  esteem, 

Yours  very  sincerely, 

EDWARD  NORTH. 

Peterboro,  April  24,  1873. 

PROFESSOR  NORTH, 

My  Dear  Sir  —  Your  esteemed  letter  of  22d  instant  came  this 
evening.  As  I  take  the  Utica  Herald,  I  was  aware  of  your  visit  to 
Europe  and  of  your  return  to  your  home.  I  am  sorry  to  learn  of 
the  bad  condition  and  unfit  material  of  President  Backus'  monu- 


26  LIFE  OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

mcnt.  I  agree  with  you  that  there  should  be  a  solid  structure  in 
the  place  of  it.  I  shall  be  willing  to  pay  for  it,  if  it  be  such  a  monu 
ment  as  meets  my  sense  of  fitness.  It  must  be  plain  and  simple 
and  costing  not  more  than  five  hundred  dollars  ($500),  I  have  no 
sympathy  with  mourning  apparel,  nor  with  expensive  coffins,  nor 
with  the  display  of  wealth  in  gravestones. 

Very  respectfully  your  friend, 

GERRIT  SMITH. 

Hamilton  College,  President's  Room. 

Clinton,  Oneida  Co.,  N.  Y.,  February  19,  1874. 

UERRIT  SMITH. 

My  Dear  Sir —  I  have  just  received  this  evening,  your  letter  of 
yesterday  containing  two  checks  of  five  hundred  dollars  each  for  the 
use  of  Hamilton  College,  and  I  cannot  sleep  without  thanking  you 
most  sincerely  for  this  most  generous  and  timely  gift.  The  college, 
I  am  sure,  is  worthy  of  the  love  of  its  friends.  It  has  done  already  a 
great  and  good  work  for  the  State,  and  needs  only  somewhat  better 
means  and  appliances  to  take  a  position  still  more  advanced,  one 
of  which  her  sons  may  reasonably  be  proud.  These  means,  my 
dear  sir,  your  gift  will  help  to  furnish. 

Let  me  thank  you  also  personally,  for  without  knowing  it,  you 
lone  me  a  great  service.  None  but  those  intimately  acquainted 
with  the  necessities  of  the  Institution,  can  understand  the  anxieties 
of  those  who  have  to  bear,  rather  more  directly  than  others,  the  bur 
den  of  administering  its  affairs,  a  burden  which  you  have  done  much 
to  lighten. 

Mrs.  Brown  and  myself  have  both  been  greatly  disappointed  in 
not  having  been  able  to  visit  you,  or  to  welcome  you  at  our  house. 
I  trust  that  both  these  pleasures  are  yet  in  store  for  us. 

Wishing  you  health  and  every  prosperity,  with  much  regard  from 
Brown  as  well  as  from  myself, 

I  remain  sincerely, 

Your  obliged  friend  and  serv't, 

S.  G.  BROWN. 

Hamilton  College,  President's  Room- 

HON.  GF.RR,  r  SMITH.  CIint°n'  °ncida  C°"  N' Y"  Nov"  "• '8"« 

Afv  Dtar  Sir,— I  hardly  know  in  what  terms  to  acknowledge 

large-hearted  liberality  to  Hamilton  College,  not  more  distin- 

ts  generosity,  than  for  the  kind,  hopeful  and  affectionate 

words  with  which  you  accompany  it.     If  the  old  proverb  be  true, 


PETER   SMITH.  2J 

bis  dat  qui  cito  dat,  I  think  it  is  no  less  true  that  he  who  gives  with 
the  spirit  of  love  doubles  the  value  of  his  gift. 

You  are  good  enough  to  leave  the  disposition  of  your  munificence 
to  the  trustees  of  the  college.  I  do  not  know  to  what  use  they  may 
think  it  wise  to  put  it,  but  whatever  it  be,  no  one  who  loves  the  col 
lege  can  help  remembering  with  gratitude  the  generous  giver. 

I  am  happy  to  add,  my  dear  sir,  that  Mrs.  Brown  seems  to  be  the 

better  for  her  ride  to  Peterboro,  and  neither  she  nor  my  daughter, 

nor  myself,  shall  soon  forget  our  exceedingly  pleasant  trip.     The 

rest  of  us  are  well.     With  affectionate  regards  from  them  all,  I  am, 

Dear  Sir,  your  greatly  obliged  friend 

and  ob't  serv't, 

S.  G.  BROWN. 


The  second  of  these  letters  is  an  acknowledgment 
of  two  subsequent  cheques  for  five  thousand  dollars 
each,  given  without  solicitation  and  without  conditions, 
making  in  all  twenty  thousand  dollars  to  the  institution. 

The  day  after  his  graduation,  Aug.  27,  1818,  his  moth 
er  died.  This  brought  him  back  to  Peterboro,  where  he 
remained  the  rest  of  the  year.  On  the  nth  of  January, 
1819,  he  was  married,  in  Rochester,  to  Wealthy  Ann, 
the  only  daughter  of  Dr.  Azel  Backus,  first  president  of 
Hamilton  College.  They  had  been  engaged  since  the 
spring  of  1817.  This  wife  was  taken  from  him  by  dropsy 
of  the  brain,  on  the  I5th  of  August,  1819,  seven  months 
only  after  marriage.  On  the  3d  of  January,  1822,  he 
was  a  second  time  married,  to  Ann  Carroll,  daughter  of 
William  Fitzhugh,  who  lived  about  four  miles  from 
Geneseo,  Livingston  County.  She  was  born  in  Hagers- 
town,  Maryland,  January  n,  1805.  Early  in  November, 
1819,  he  had  begun  to  keep  house  in  the  family  mansion 
in  Peterboro.  At  this  time,  his  household  consisted  of 
his  mother-in-law,  her  son  Robert  H.  Backus,  who  was 
in  his  employ  as  clerk,  and  Laura  Bosworth,  who  re- 


2g  LIFE  OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

maincd  a  member  of  the  family  for  more  than  twenty 
years.  Thus  early  in  life  began  his  household  care,  his 
personal  sorrow  and  responsibilities  and  his  abounding 

hospitality. 

The  arrangements  above  alluded  to,  by  which  his  father 
placed  in  Gerrit's  hands  his  whole  estate,  real  and  personal, 
under  conditions  that  required  the  careful  administration 
of  a  large  property,  decided  his  residence  and  occupation. 
He  was  to  be  a  man  of  business.  The  act  showed  on  his 
father's  part  a  remarkable  confidence  in  the  young  man's 
practical  ability  and  personal  integrity,  and  on  the  part 
of  the  son  a  consciousness  of  power,  and  a  readiness  to 
accept  responsibility,  not  singular,  it  must  be  confessed, 
for  many  a  youth  jumps  at  opportunities  he  cannot 
meet,  and  accepts  trusts  he  lacks  moral  force  to  dis 
charge — but  in  this  instance,  more  than  justified.  From 
that  hour  the  young  man's  career  was  determined.  The 
necessities  of  business,  the  care  of  much  land  and  of  many 
people,  the  claims  of  kindred  who  were  made  dependent 
on  him,  duty  to  his  father  who  trusted  him  so  entirely, 
held  him  strictly  to  his  locality.  He  could  not  wander 
from  it  for  any  purpose ;  he  could  not  travel ;  he  could 
not  amuse  himself.  The  life  of  enjoyment  and  dissipa 
tion  was  forbidden.  Had  he  felt  ever  so  keenly  the  young 
man's  desire  to  see  the  world  and  taste  its  pleasures,  he 
was  as  powerless  to  do  so  as  the  poorest  man  in  the  vil 
lage.  Remote  from  the  small  centres  of  American  soci- 
far  from  New  York,  far  from  Albany  even,  his  days 
and  years  went  on  with  noiseless  unremitting  energy, 
undistracted,  unwasted.  The  talent  for  affairs  which 
agacious  father  noticed,  and  which  even  his  elder 
brother  had  to  confess,  was  trained  until  he  became,  by 


PETER   SMITH.  29 

the  best  testimony,  one  of  the  ablest  businessmen  in  the 
country,  by  all  admission,  the  most  competent  manager 
in  the  State.  He  was  regular,  exact,  systematic,  far 
sighted,  bold  and  just.  His  working  power  was  immense, 
and  shrank  from  no  burden  that  was  laid  upon  it. 
The  passion  to  acquire  land  which  actuated  his  father, 
never  possessed  him  in  the  same  degree,  though  in  early 
life  he  purchased  largely.  His  purchases  were  never 
made  with  a  view  to  accumulation,  but  to  ensure  profit 
from  the  rise  in  value  of  real  estate,  or  to  oblige  debtors. 
The  Michigan  tract  of  six  thousand  acres  bought  in 
1858,  on  account  of  James  Backus,  the  brother  of  his 
first  wife,  was  sold  ten  years  afterwards,  at  a  handsome 
advance.  It  cost  six  dollars  an  acre  and  brought  thirty- 
two,  more  than  five  times  as  much  ;  but  the  taxes  and 
other  expenses  during  the  ten  years  he  held  it,  made 
the  profits  of  the  sale  much  less  than  these  figures  report. 
He  was  scarcely  more  than  twenty-one  years  of  age, 
when  he  bought  eighteen  thousand  acres  of  land  in 
Florence.  In  1827,  the  State  of  New  York,  sold  in  lots 
at  public  auction,  the  site  of  the  then  village  of  Oswego, 
about  a  mile  square  on  either  side  of  the  river,  the  Wei- 
land  and  Oswego  canals  being  at  the  time  nearly  finished. 
The  expectation  that  the  canals  would  build  up  the  little 
village  of  seven  or  eight  hundred  inhabitants  into  a 
thriving  town,  raised  the  price  of  the  land,  though  the 
surrounding  woods  concealed  much  of  it  from  any  but 
speculative  eyes.  Mr.  Smith  was  one  of  the  largest  pur 
chasers  on  the  east  side  of  the  river,  where  lots  were 
valued  one-third  less  than  on  the  west  side.  The  sum 
invested  was  not  great,  about  fourteen  thousand  dollars; 
but  the  purchase  proved  to  be  important.  In  a  few 


30  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

years  his  property  equalled  in  valuation  that  on  the  op 
posite  bank  of  the  river,  and  half  a  million  of  dollars 
would  not  buy  what  a  few  thousand  secured  at  first.  Soon 
after  this,  the  acute  speculator  bought  nearly  the  whole 
stock  of  the  Oswego  Hydraulic  Canal  Company,  put  the 
canal  in  good  order,  leased  the  water  privileges  at  low 
rates,  and  in  connection  with  his  brother-in-law  and 
others  built  flour  mills,  which  after  a  time  changed 
hands.  In  1831-2,  he  improved  what  was  called  the 
East  Cove,  a  marshy,  unwholesome  district,  for  which, 
after  renting  it  several  years  from  the  town,  he  had  paid 
five  thousand  dollars,  by  digging  a  ship  basin  and  ship 
passage  from  the  river.  The  land  purchased  was  sold  in 
lots.  By  October,  1835,  all  the  property  was  sold  at 
moderate  rates,  except  the  canal  and  cove  property. 
Then  began  the  disastrous  speculations  in  real  estate, 
which  carried  away  nearly  every  man  in  the  town.  A 
general  bankruptcy  followed,  and  a  large  portion  of  the 
property  which  Mr.  Smith  disposed  of  in  1835,  being  but 
partially  paid  for,  fell  back  into  his  hands.  The  panic 
of  1837  brought  him  to  a  strait  pass.  An  accumulation 
of  debt  distressed  him,  and  there  seemed  no  way  out  of 
bankruptcy,  except  by  incurring  new  obligations.  The 
large  sum  obtained  of  John  Jacob  Astor,  mentioned 
elsewhere,  barely  enabled  him  to  pay  interest  and  taxes, 
leaving  the  principal  undiminished.  He  left  his  large 
house,  and  retired  to  a  smaller  one  called  "  The  Grove," 
about  a  mile  distant,  reduced  his  establishment,  called 
on  his  wife  and  daughter  to  take  the  place  in  the 
office  of  discharged  clerks,  and  toiled  terribly  to 
lift  the  burden— a  heavy  one  at  that  time— of  six 
hundred  thousand  dollars.  His  predicament  at  this 


i  PETER   SMITH.  31 

period,    is  hinted    at     in    a    letter    to    his    wife,  dated 
Dec.  II,  1839. 

"  Never,  my  dear  wife,  have  I  been  reduced  to  such 
straits  in  money  matters.  I  have  some  fifteen  hundred 
debtors,  but  I  receive  almost  literally  nothing,  and  I 
can  borrow  nothing.  I  shall  find  it  difficult  to  keep  you 
and  Libby  at  Philadelphia,— difficult  even  to  get  money 
enough  to  visit  you."  The  lands  coming  into  the  market 
about  1843,  gradually  put  him  in  funds  ;  the  debt  was 
rapidly  reduced,  and  in  1850  was  all  paid.  Misfortunes 
never  come  singly;  neither  do  persecutions.  In  1837, 
he  had  taken,  in  part  payment  of  a  very  heavy  debt 
from  a  relative, — one  hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand 
dollars, — a  mortgage  on  an  undivided  fourth  part  of  the 
steamboat  "  St.  Lawrence."  It  was  good  for  nothing, 
and  had  been  put  down  as  practically  good  for  nothing, 
a  worthless  piece  of  property.  In  the  summer  of  1844, 
it  happened,  that  the  village  of  Sackett's  Harbor  took 
fire,  and  was  nearly  destroyed.  The  fire  began  by 
the  lake,  and  soon  after  the  "  St.  Lawrence  "  had  left 
the  port ;  whence  it  was  ingeniously  surmised  that  a 
spark  from  her  smoke  stack  had  done  the  damage.  A 
certain  Mr.  Dodge,  well  named,  caught  at  the  idea,  and 
brought  suit  against  the  owners  of  the  boat,  Mr.  Smith 
included,  to  recover  the  loss  on  his  hotel.  It  was  an 
absurd  suit,  and  was  almost  immediately  dismissed. 
But  it  cost  time  and  lawyer's  fees,  and  indefinite  vexation 
of  mind.  Counsel  thought  the  case  looked  dark,  quoted 
the  deceitful  adage  that  where  there  is  smoke  there  must 
be  fire,  and  advised  a  composition,  even  an  assignment 
of  property  !  Poor  Mr.  Smith  !  he  might  have  been 
extinguished  entirely,  but  for  his  own  pluck.  Of  the 


32  LIFE  Of  GERRIT  SMITH. 

debt  of  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand  dollars, 
he  recovered  perhaps  thirty  or  forty  thousand. 

The  submarine  improvement  of  "  Grampus  Bay,"— 
so  called  from  the  fate  of  the  "  Grampus  "  which  disas 
trously  went  ashore  there,— the  building  of  six  wharves, 
slips  and  a  river  pier,  and  the  reconstruction  of  the  di 
lapidated  "  East  Pier,"— work  begun  in  1852  and  com 
pleted  in  1854  at  a  cost  of  nearly  one  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  quite  doubled  the  value  of  wharf  property  in  the 
city.  Through  his  influence  at  Washington  a  custom 
house  was  established  at  Oswego,  the  third  custom 
house  in  the  State,  and  the  Act  of  Canadian  Reciprocity 
pressed  by  his  friend  Alvan  Bronson,  owed  much  to 
his  instance,  while  in  Washington.  Thus  by  degrees 
the  business  interests  were  centered  in  Oswego,  which 
;ne  the  principal  source  of  his  pecuniary  supply. 
The  income  of  course,  varied  much  with  changing 
MS  in  the  business  world.  The  best  average  for 
twenty-five  years  was  from  fifty  to  sixty  thousand  dol 
lars  a  year ;  not  an  enormous  income  for  these  days,  but 
very  large  thirty  years  ago.  During  the  last  ten  years 
of  his  life,  it  was  not  far  from  eighty  thousand  dollars. 
The  work  of  husbanding  and  securing  all  this  was  by  no 
means  light.  Many  hours  daily  were  spent  in  the  office 
with  his  clerks  and  books.  It  was  his  custom,  in  the 
busy  period  of  his  career,  to  devote  to  these  affairs  nine 
or  ten  hours  a  day ;  often  twelve  or  fifteen  were  no  more 
than  enough;  for  he  superintended  the  whole,  and  per 
formed  much  labor  with  his  own  hand.  He  was  a  model 
of  minuteness  and  exactness,  a  model  too,  of  fairness 
and  consideration.  The  business  agent  in  Oswego,  who 
was  in  his  service  forty-three  years,  cannot  recall  a  single 


PARENTAGE.  33 

unpleasant  passage,  or  a  single  unkind  word  written  or 
spoken  to  him  in  all  that  period  of  time.  His  open 
ness  of  dealing  is  illustrated  by  such  a  public  notice  as 
the  following,  which  was  issued  Nov.  22,  1849. 

"  The  Directors  and  Stockholders  of  the  Canastota  and 
Morrisville  Plank  Road  Company,  and  indeed,  all  other 
persons,  are  desired  to  feel  themselves  to  be  at  perfect 
liberty  to  call  at  the  office  of  Gerrit  Smith  and  examine 
the  maps,  profiles  and  reports  of  the  engineers  who  have 
been  employed  upon  the  several  plank  road  routes 
between  Morrisville  and  Canastota." 

The  only  records  he  was  not  willing  the  public  should 
examine  were  the  records  of  his  benefactions.  His 
reputation  for  integrity  in  financial  transactions  could 
not  be  better  illustrated  than  by  the  incident  here  rela 
ted.  The  Journal  of  Aug.  JO,  1837,  contains  this  mod 
est  entry.  "  I  this  week  receive  a  letter  from  my  friend, 
and  my  father's  friend,  John  Jacob  Astor,  in  which  he 
consents  to  loan  me  for  a  long  period  the  large  sum  of 
money  which  I  had  applied  for  to  him.  This  money 
will  enable  me  to  rid  myself  of  pecuniary  embarrass 
ments,  and  to  extend  important  assistance  to  others, 
and  especially  to  extend  indulgence  to  those  who  owe 
me.  This  is  a  great  mercy  of  God  to  me.  It  relieves 
my  mind  of  a  great  burden  of  anxiety.  My  pecuniary 

embarrassments,  growing  out  of  my  liabilities  for 

and  out  of  my  liabilities  for,  and  advances  to have 

often,  and  for  hours  together,  filled  me  with  painful 
concern."  The  sum  requested  was,  in  all,  two  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  dollars.  The  application,  in  general 
terms,  was  made  by  letter.  The  letter  was  answered  by 
an  invitation  to  dinner.  As  the  two  sat  at  meat,  the 


34  LIFE  OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

host  was  full  of  reminiscences  of  former  years  when  he 
went  in  search  of  skins  with  his  guest's  father,  now  little 
more  than  three  months  deceased.  There  was  no  talk 
of  business  till  the  cloth  was  removed,  and  the  two  were 
by  themselves.  Then  the  visitor  opened  a  tale  of  dis 
tress  which  was  short,  but  heavy.  It  was  a  season  of 
panic.  The  banks  had  suspended  specie  payments  and 
could  afford  only  feeble  and  precarious  relief.  Business 
was  at  a  stand-still ;  real  estate  had  fallen  to  a  nominal 
value ;  land  was  unproductive.  The  legal  adviser  and 
brother-in-law  of  Peter  Smith,  his  son's  counsellor  too, 
urged  an  assignment  of  property  for  the  benefit  of  the 
creditors.  How  much  do  you  need?  asked  the  million 
aire.  The  visitor  named  the  sum.  Do  you  want  the 
whole  of  it  at  once  ?  I  do.  Astor  looked  grave  for  a 
moment,  then  said :  "  you  shall  have  it."  A  mortgage 
was  pledged  on  the  Oswego  purchase,  made  ten  years 
before,  and  the  relieved  guest  went  home  to  Peterboro. 
Astor's  cheque  for  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dol 
lars  came  in  a  few  days.  The  mortgage  was  executed 
and  duly  recorded,  and  Smith  went  on  with  his  affairs. 
Here  comes  the  most  remarkable  part  of  the  transaction. 
The  county  clerk  neglected  to  transmit  the  papers  to 
Mr.  Astor.  Weeks  elapsed,  and  Smith's  part  of  the  bar 
gain  was  unfulfilled.  A  letter  from  New  York,  sent  Mr. 
Smith  to  Oswego.  The  clerk's  stupidity  was  repri 
manded,  and  the  papers,  with  satisfactory  explanations. 
were  sent  to  their  proper  destination.  Mr.  Astor  had 
parted  with  a  quarter  of  a  million  of  dollars  on  the  bare 
word  of  Gerrit  Smith,  and  had  been  content  with  the 
bare  word,  for  weeks  ! 

To  multitudes  Gerrit  Smith  is  vaguely  known  as  the 


PARENTAGE.  35 

man  of  wealth.  Some  think  that  without  his  wealth  he 
would  not  have  been  known  at  all,  that  his  purse  was  his 
power,  that  his  fortune  was  his  fame.  That  the  wealth 
was  a  most  important  factor,  that  it  always  is  and  must 
be  an  important  factor,  it  were  idle  to  deny.  It  pro 
vides  the  material  basis  for  character.  It  is  opportu 
nity,  patronage,  influence.  The  rich  man  is  sure  of  a 
hearing  and  a  welcome.  He  can  control  the  press ;  he 
can  maintain  a  press  of  his  own ;  he  can  back  his  opin 
ions  with  gold,  and  carry  his  policies  with  bounties.  He 
withdraws  his  support  and  enterprises  fail;  he  lends  his 
aid  and  undertakings  thrive.  His  argument  prevails  ; 
his  jest  is  applauded  ;  his  frown  is  confusion  ;  his  smile 
makes  glad.  Gerrit  Smith  had  this  power;  had  he  not 
possessed  it,  he  certainly  would  not  have  occupied  the 
place  he  did.  The  remarkable  thing  is  that  possessing 
the  power  he  did  occupy  the  place  ;  that  the  wealth  was 
his  help,  not  his  ruin  ;  that  it  was  his  opportunity  not 
his  temptation  ;  that  it  furnished  a  solid  base  for  his  in 
tellectual  and  moral  operations,  not  a  grave  in  which  his 
manhood  was  buried ;  that  he  could  wear  the  purple, 
and  still  be  a  king.  It  must  be  a  grand  figure  that  looks 
grand  on  a  high  pedestal. 

Let  it  be  granted  that  in  the  remoteness  and  seclu 
sion  of  Peterborohe  looked  and  felt  larger  than  he  would 
have  done  in  a  city  like  New  York.  Let  it  be  granted 
that  he  was  larger  there  than  he  would  have  been  in 
the  city,  by  reason  of  the  greater  leisure  allowed  him, 
and  the  exemption  from  wasting  interruptions  and  the 
dissipations  of  social  life.  All  this  is  no  prejudice  to  the 
man,  but  it  was  his  advantage.  It  did  not  make  him,  it 
simply  permitted  him  to  be  all  he  was  meant  to  be;  but 


36  LIFE  OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

the  spontaneous  energy  of  mind  which  made  him  what 
he  became,  was  all  his  own.  Circumstances  supply  op 
portunity  for  this,  but  do  not  originate  it.  Most  men 
require  the  excitement  of  stimulating  conditions  to  pro 
voke  their  latent  vigor.  They  that  can  dispense  with 
these,  and  grow  in  thin  soil,  are  the  few.  Daniel  Web 
ster  defined  genius  as  the  power  to  kindle  one'  s  own 
fires.  The  elm  tree  that  stands  in  the  field,  apart,  with 
all  the  air  and  soil  there  is  for  its  sustenance,  is  not  to 
be  depreciated  on  this  account ;  it  can  appropriate 
only  what  belongs  to  it,  and  its  size  and  symmetry 
attest  the  fidelity  of  its  obedience  to  the  laws  of  its 
nature. 

Let  it  be  remembered  too,  that  small  places  have  their 
disadvantages  as  well  as  large  ones.  They  feed  conceit. 
So  that  the  man's  apparent  gain  from  the  solitariness  of 
his  position  may  be  more  than  counter-balanced  by  the 
injury  lie  suffers  from  the  flattery  of  villagers.  The 
small  man  will  look,  in  the  city,  smaller  than  he  is.  In 
the  country  he  will  be  smaller  than  he  might  be.  The 
genuine  man  will  prove  his  value  by  extracting  virtue 
from  whatever  circumstances  he  may  be  thrown  in.  The 
circumstances  will  shape  the  form  of  the  qualities  and 
determine  their  proportion,  but  the  manliness  must  de 
cide  the  character.  It  is  idle  to  discuss  the  relative 
advantages  of  social  and  private,  of  city  and  of  country 
life.  Either  may  make  and  either  may  mar  the  man. 
To  grow  great,  or  continue  great  in  either  is  an  achieve 
ment  to  be  honored.  The  special  type  of  greatness  may 
be  subject  for  comment,  the  greatness  speaks  for  itself. 
The  unique  or  peculiar  man  will  distinguish  himself 
wherever  stationed.  In  large  places  he  will  be  regarded 


PARENTAGE.  37 

as  an  oddity,  because  so  unlike  the  multitude  about 
him.  The  tall  underbrush  conceals  from  view  his  mas 
sive  qualities.  In  the  small  place,  his  height  will  seem 
to  be  greater  than  it  is,  but  he  will  at  least  display  his 
full  proportions. 


CHAPTER    II. 

HEALTH. 

THE  promise  "  in  health  and  wealth  long  to  live  " 
was  given  to  Gerrit  Smith  at  his  birth.  He  came  of 
strong,  mixed  races.  His  father's  father  and  mother 
were  Low  Dutch.  His  mother's  father  was  half  Dutch 
and  half  Scotch  ;  his  mother's  mother  was,  though  born 
in  Ireland,  of  Scotch  parentage.  In  temperament  he 
might  be  classed  with  the  sanguine-lymphatic,  not  a 
fortunate  combination,  as  a  rule ;  implying  as  it  does  the 
union  of  great  vitality,  ardor,  and  swiftness  of  blood, 
with  a  certain  doggedness  of  purpose  and  moral  obtuse- 
ness  which  bode  ill  for  elevation  of  aim  or  humanity  of 
achievement.  In  this  instance,  the  confidence  and  elas 
ticity  gained  more  than  they  lost  from  the  alliance  with 
a  resolute  persistency  that  never  knew  discouragement, 
and  never  confessed  defeat.  The  frame  was  stately  ;  the 
countenance  noble  ;  the  massive,  well-proportioned  head 
was  superbly  set  on  broad  shoulders;  the  chest  was 
deep  ;  the  face  was  expressive ;  the  eye  was  large  and 
brilliant ;  the  voice  was  sonorous  and  rich,  remarkable 
for  compass,  musicalness  and  power ;  the  brown  hair, 
worn  long  in  youth,  fell  in  strong  masses  over  the  collar, 
which,  open  in  front,  displayed  the  round,  smooth  throat. 
The  man  possessed  the  great  advantages  of  stature  and 
weight.  He  was  six  feet  in  height.  In  1865  he  weighed 


HEAL  TH.  39 

two  hundred  and  one  pounds,  against  George  Thomp 
son's  one  hundred  and  forty-six, — a  difference  that 
awakened  reflections  on  the  subject  of  light  and  heavy 
people.  At  the  age  of  seventy,  in  mid-summer,  in 
thinnest  clothes,  he  weighed  more  than  two  hundred 
pounds,  two  hundred  and  eight  pounds  and  a  half.  In 
his  college  youth,  he  was  the  image  of  health,  a  model 
of  manly  beauty  and  power.  And  so  he  always  seemed 
to  those  who  saw  him  in  society  or  in  public.  They 
who  knew  him  intimately  in  and  after  middle  life  were 
aware  of  physical  ailments  that  would  have  pulled  down 
a  weaker  man,  and  daunted  a  less  resolute  one. 

In  November,  1832,  so  the  Diary  records,  he  gave  up 
the  use  of  tea  and  coffee  ;  he  had  previously  "  abjured 
the  castors,"  meaning  spices  and  condiments.  In  March, 
1835,  he  began  a  course  of  abstinence  from  "  fish,  flesh 
and  gravies."  On  the  following  month  all  the  products 
of  slave  labor  were  excluded  , from  his  diet.  In  1840, 
when  transcribing  the  journal  of  1835,  Mr.  Smith  remarks 
11 1  continue  to  abstain  from  flesh.  I  have,  however, 
eaten  fish  very  frequently  during  the  last  four  years. 
For  the  last  few  months  I  have  abstained  almost  entirely 
from  fish  and  butter." 

The  reasons  assigned  for  these  rules  are  that  they 
were  deemed  salutary  to  sedentary  people,  and  that  the 
supply  of  human  food,  consequently  the  increase  of  the 
human  family,  would  be  vastly  augmented  by  the  aban 
donment  of  flesh  diet. 

"  The  myriads  of  China  could  not  be  subsisted,  if  they  were  ex 
tensively  flesh  eating-.  God  authorizes  the  eating  of  flesh.  But  it  is 
an  interesting-  question  whether  he  would  have  us  eat  it  now,  when 
the  world's  population  is  so  comparatively  dense,  and  when  the  eat 
ing  of  it  interferes  with  obedience  to  his  command  to  multiply  and 


4O  LIFE  OF  CERRIT  SMITH. 

replenish  the  earth.  Canals  and  railways,  by  saving  the  necessity 
of  much  animal  power, — say,  millions  of  horses, — make  great  room 
for  the  increase  of  the  human  family.  But  how  much  more  room 
would  the  relinquishment  of  flesh  food  afford  !  " 

That  the  adoption  of  these  practices  was  harmful  is 
not  here  asserted.  The  ailments  just  alluded  to  may 
have  been  due  to  the  confinement  of  a  laborious  and  sed 
entary  life  ;  some  of  them  tormented  his  father,  and  were 
probably  ancestral  inheritances  ;  the  most  agonizing  of  all 
clearly  was.  A  youth  less  confined  and  harassed  might 
have  eluded  them.  As  it  was,  his  occupations  furnished 
the  conditions  for  their  early  manifestation.  It  is  in 
teresting  to  note  that  signs  of  weakness  and  illness  occur 
in  close  connection  with  the  asceticism.  The  brief  diary 
makes  distinct  records  of  sickness  and  disease  for  almost 
every  year  between  1836  and  1863.  Not  ten  times  is 
the  mention  omitted.  Severe  colds  and  rheumatism  ; 
feverish  attacks,  giddiness,  are  often  spoken  of.  Surgi 
cal  operations  at  home,  ffl  Philadelphia,  New  York ;  for 
hydrocele,  hemorrhoids,  tumor  in  the  back,  hernia, 
caused  great  suffering  and  weeks  of  confinement.  Ap 
plications  of  blisters  and  ointments  severely  tried  his 
patience  and  fortitude.  In  June,  1839,  the  moxa  was 
applied  to  the  back  to  correct  a  weakness  which  he 
feared  might  imply  or  involve  a  curvature  of  the  spine. 
For  several  years, — from  1842  to  1847, — the  condition 
of  his  eyes  was  unsatisfactory ;  cataract  was  predicted  ; 
he  himself  apprehended  complete  or  partial  blindness. 
At  the  most  important  public  crisis  of  his  life,  the  con 
gressional  episode,  the  rush  of  blood  to  the  head  troub 
led  him  so  greatly  that  he  kept  his  place  with  difficulty, 
and  was  all  but  compelled  to  desist  from  his  meditated 


HEALTH.  41 

purpose.     The   following   letter   is   of  interest   in    this 
connection. 

Philadelphia,  Nov.  29,  1853. 

D.  H.  FROST. 

My  Dear  Sir — Although  it  is  a  fortnight  since  I  left  home,  I  am 
but  so  far  on  my  way  to  Washington.  I  mean  to  be  there  at  the 
opening  of  the  session ;  but  it  is  very  far  from  certain  that  I  shall 
take  my  seat  in  Congress  at  that  time. 

The  disease  in  my  head  continues  unabated.  My  New  York 
physicians  (how  justly  I  do  not  know)  believe  it  is  a  consequence  of 
the  surgical  operation  to  which  I  submitted  last  summer.  That 
skilful  operation  relieved  me  entirely  of  a  painful  disease  ;  but  it  is 
perhaps  a  worse  one  which  has  now  come  upon  me.  However  this 
may  be,  I  am,  at  least  for  the  present,  disqualified  for  reading  or 
writing  or  public  speaking. 

I  do  not  intend  to  resign  my  office  immediately.  I  presume  that 
my  constituents  would  prefer  my  holding  to  it  for  a  month  or  two 
longer,  in  the  expectation  that,  during  this  time,  my  health  may  be 
either  so  improved  as  to  allow  me  to  engage  in  the  duties  of  my 
office,  or  so  much  worse  as  to  make  it  my  obvious  duty  to  resign  it. 

Excuse  my  brevity.  The  sensations  in  my  drumming  head  make 
it  no  small  task  for  me  to  write  even  so  short  a  letter  as  this. 

Your  friend, 

GERRIT  SMITH. 

Fifteen  years  before  this,  Mr.  Smith  had  doubted 
whether  his  bodily  ailments  and  business  occupations 
would  permit  him  to  attend  public  meetings,  or  make 
speeches  any  more.  Ten  years  earlier  still,  his  friend, 
Theodore  D.  Weld,  expressed  deep  concern  about  his 
health,  and  recommended  a  mode  of  treatment  for  spinal 
affections,  which  had  proved  efficacious  in  cases  of  his 
own  knowledge.  In  1840,  he  thanks  Elizur  Wright  for 
a  warm-hearted  letter,  "  a  cordial  to  my  spirits,  which 
are  sometimes  a  little  depressed  by  my  long  confinement 
with  sickness  ;"  tells  him  that  he  has  been  in  the  hands 
of  his  physician  for  seven  weeks,  and  expects  to  be  for 


42  LIFE   OF  CERRIT  SMITH. 

some  weeks  more.  Gerrit  Smith  did  not  welcome  sick 
ness.  Pain  he  shrank  from  and  faced  unwillingly.  It  is 
possible  that  his  extreme  sensibility  to  it  increased  the 
dread  of  it,  and  gave  rise  to  morbid  fears  of  danger, 
though  nothing  of  this  appears  in  the  brief  mentions  he 
makes  of  his  sicknesses,  in  his  diary.  That  he  was  a  suf 
ferer  from  local  disease,  that  he  lost  much  time  through 
it,  and  was  considerably  weakened  in  force  by  it,  may  be 
set  down  as  certain.  How  often  the  infirmities  of  the 
body  baffle  and  hinder  the  man's  purpose  and  energy  ! 
How  common  it  is  to  disregard  their  effect  !  We  read 
history,  as  if  the  actors  on  the  scene  were  exempt  from 
ill ;  as  if  headache  and  dyspepsia  were  things  unknown  ; 
as  if  food  was  always  digested  and  sleep  never  lost ;  and 
when  the  man  fails  to  justify  himself  in  an  emergency, 
we  ascribe  the  failure  to  lack  of  genius  or  valor,  whereas, 
were  the  truth  known,  both  genius  and  valor  never  shone 
more  brilliantly  than  in  the  effort  to  contend  against 
some  nervous  disorder  which  undermined  the  moral 
power,  and  balked  the  foresight  of  the  intellect.  Is  it 

Strange  that  a  harp  of  thousand  strings 
Should  keep  in  tune  so  long? 

It  is  equally  strange  that  a  harp  so  easily  put  out  of 
tune,  should  give  forth  the  noble  music  it  does.  Some 
have  ascribed  Mr.  Smith's  impaired  constitution  to  an 
ascetic  and  notional  way  of  living.  But  those  who  knew 
him  most  intimately  did  not.  He  himself  was  certain,  that 
to  features  of  it,  its  simplicity  and  temperance,  he  owed 
his  life  at  critical  periods;  and  so  it  may  have  been.  He 
was  no  ascetic  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the  term.  He 
practiced  a  generous  diet  such  as  it  was,  ate  as  much  as 


HEALTH.  43 

he  wanted,  and  what  he  thought  agreed  with  him  best. 
He  knew  what  health  was  worth,  for  he  wasted  no  mo 
ment  of  it.  Had  he  known  how  to  obtain  more,  or  how 
to  heighten  what  he  had,  he  was  not  the  m-an  to  let 
pleasure  or  whim  stand  in  the  way  of  such  a  privilege. 
Life  to  him  was  more  than  meat. 


CHAPTER    III. 

RELIGION. 

To  understand  the  character  and  life  of  Gerrit  Smith, 
it  is  necessary  to  have  a  clear  view  of  the  religious  prin 
ciples  on  which  he  built.  His  early  years  gave  no  signs 
of  spiritual  emotion.  Though  free  from  stain,  kind, 
friendly,  generous  and  just,  he  was  not  distinguished  for 
the  personal  consecration  to  impersonal  objects,  which 
was  so  remarkable  a  feature  in  his  manly  career.  But 
from  his  father  he  inherited  a  quick  religious  sensibility, 
which  declared  itself  as  soon  as  the  call  for  it  came.  On 
March  1 7th,  1826,  so  the  Diary  informs  us,  he  and  his 
wife  connected  themselves  with  the  Presbyterian  church 
in  Peterboro,  making  public  profession  of  their  faith  in 
Jesus  Christ  as  their  God  and  Saviour.  He  had  already 
for  one  year,  acted  as  superintendent  of  the  Sunday 
school.  The  journal  which  he  began  in  1826  contained, 
he  remarks,  nearly  all  the  texts  of  the  sermons  he  had 
heard,  for  thirteen  years.  In  1839,  tnis  journal,  which 
covered  upwards  of  four  hundred  pages,  was  condensed 
into  less  than  a  quarter  the  space ;  was  made,  in  fact, 
exceedingly  curt  and  dry ;  yet  even  then,  the  space 
given  to  sermon  texts,  names  of  preachers,  Sabbath  inci 
dents,  records  of  conference  and  prayer  meetings,  is  out 
of  all  proportion  to  that  given  to  any  other  subject. 
Expressions  of  religious  feeling  similar  to  those  quoted 


RELIGION.  45 

from  his  father's  diary,  are  of  very  frequent  recurrence. 
A  few  are  given  to  illustrate  this  peculiar  element  of 
character. 

April  3,  1828,  "  She  was  prepared  to  die.  In  the  whole  circle  of 
our  friends,  there  was  not  one  person  more  precious  and  estimable 
than  herself.  Her  religion  was  emphatically  the  religion  of  Jesus. 
It  exalted  the  Saviour  and  abased  the  sinner.  It  made  redeeming 
love  all  in  all.  She  was  eminently  a  woman  of  prayer." 

September  14,  1828,  "  The  first  Sabbath  after  they  left  us,  they 
spent  on  their  way  from  Albany  to  New  York,  and  now  they  have 
profaned  a  great  part  of  this  holy  day.  May  I  truly  lament  this  sin 
in  members  of  my  family  !  " 

January  7/1833,  "Our  church  assembled  agreeably  to  the  re 
commendation  of  the  General  Assembly.  The  day  was  observed  by 
us  as  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer  for  the  conversion  of  the  world." 

January  16. — "  I,  this  Wednesday,  attended  the  church  confer 
ence.  It  was  a  solemn  meeting.  The  question  considered  was, 
whether  we  would  set  about  promoting  a  revival  of  religion." 

March  6,  1834,  "  This  Friday  evening,  my  dear  wife  and  I,  under 
a  sense  of  our  sins,  resolved  to  spend  the  following  day  in  fasting 
and  prayer  and  searchings  of  heart." 

April  6,  "  The  past  week  has  been  a  week  of  great  mercies  to 
our  church,  of  great  humblings  of  heart,  of  sincere  repentance,  of 
many  confessing  to  God  and  man.  My  dear  son  manifested  yester 
day  more  religious  tenderness,  more  concern  for  his  soul  than  I  ever 
knew  him  to  do  before.  He  even  hopes  that  he  is  a  Christian.  O 
God,  leave  him  not  to  fall  under  delusion,  but  may  his  hope  be  a 
good  hope  through  grace." 

April  10,  "  The  protracted  meeting  closed  this  afternoon.  It  has 
been  a  season  of  great  mercy  to  many  out  of,  as  well  as  in  the 
church.  I  suppose  that  upwards  of  one  hundred  persons  have  taken 
the  '  anxious  seats.' — Probably  not  more  than  one-fourth  of  them 
have  obtained  consolation  in  Christ,  but  many  of  the  others  are  very 
serious." 

February  10,  1835,  "  I  find  that  my  dear  wife  has  had  great 
struggles  with  sin  and  Satan  during  my  absence.  But  the  Lord  has, 
in  His  great  goodness,  brought  her  triumphant  out  of  them,  and  she 
has  now  more  Christian  confidence  and  peace  than  she  has  had  at 
any  previous  time  for  years*" 

September  6,  "  I  fear  that  I  have  lost  that  increased  interest  in 


46  LIFE  OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

religion  which  the  death  of  my  dear  baby  was  the  occasion  of  pro 
ducing  in  me." 

April  21,  1836,  "How  deficient  is  my  interest  in  the  Bible  ! 
Since  my  dear  baby's  death,  I  have  not  allowed  myself  to  read  on 
the  Sabbath  any  other  book  than  the  Bible,  excepting  sermons  in 
church,  or,  occasionally  and  unavoidably,  a  few  paragraphs.  Still, 
how  little  relish  I  have  for  the  pages  of  God's  Book  !  " 

April 4,  1837,  "Previous  to  my  leaving  home,  there  were  indi 
cations  that  the  Lord  was  about  to  revive  his  work  among  us.  The 
expected  blessing  has  come.  During  my  absence  a  shower  of  grace 
has  fallen  on  this  village  and  neighborhood.  It  is  supposed  that  not 
less  than  sixty  have  found  the  Saviour  precious.  Amongst  them  is 

,  who  has  been  a  member  of  my  family  for  six  months.  Thus  is 

salvation  again  brought  to  my  house." 

Aug.  5,  1848,  "  In  the  interval  of  worship  Mr.  and  Mrs.  B , 

my  dear  wife  and  I  were  baptized.  Mrs.  B.  was  sprinkled,  and  the 
others  were  immersed.  Though  sprinkled  in  infancy,  I  had  not, 
either  in  the  judgment  of  Baptists  or  Pedobaptists,  been  baptized, — 
neither  of  my  parents  being  pious  at  that  time." 

Nov.  1857,  "  I  am  an  unspeakable  debtor  to  God  for  my  recovery 
from  this  painful  and  perilous  sickness.  Oh,  that  it  might  be  proved 
that  I  am  a  still  greater  debtor  to  Him  for  my  religious  thoughts  and 
purposes  and  many  prayers  during  my  sickness.  This  can  be 
proved  only  by  my  better  heart  and  better  life." 

Notes  of  like  import  occur  to  the  end.  Thus  on  March  6,  1871, 
he  writes  :  "  I  am  this  day  seventy-four  years  old.  I  thank  my 
Heavenly  Father  for  having  spared  me  another  year.  I  have  not 
spent  it  as  I  should  have  done.  I  still  feel  that  I  need  to  be  born 
again.  My  love  of  God  and  my  love  of  man  are  both  weak." 

March  6,  1873,  "  I  this  clay  complete  my  seventy-sixth  year,  and 
yet,  as  I  feel,  my  heart  is  not  right  in  the  sight  of  God." 

May  19,  1874,  "Black  Friday  was  the  name  that  the  money 
changers  gave  two  or  three  years  ago  to  a  certain  day  in  New  York. 
Friday  the  I5th  inst.  was  my  Black  Friday.  That  Friday  night 
my  sins  pressed  heavily  upon  my  conscience,  and  I  got  very  little 
sleep." 

No  event  of  close  personal  application  is  mentioned 
without  some  suggestion  of  religious  feeling ;  and  pious 
usage  to  the  last  accompanied  pious  expression.  The 
Sabbath  was  conscientiously  observed.  The  Bible  was 


RELIGION.  47 

diligently  read  ;  family  prayer  was  constantly  practiced. 
The  custom  of  attending  church,  and  interesting  him 
self  in  evangelical  movements  stayed  by  to  the  last. 
A  pious  minister  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
assigned  to  the  parish  at  Peterboro  in  1873,  recalls  with 
warm  emotion  Mr.  Smith's  presence  and  demeanor  at 
the  Lord's  Supper,  his  devout  manner  of  conducting 
service  in  his  own  free  chapel,  his  grave  dignity  in  re 
buking  unseemly  harshness  and  looseness  of  speech  in 
meetings  for  religious  discussion,  the  evangelical  tone 
of  his  occasional  addresses  at  the  Methodist  meetings, 
his  faithfulness  and  gentleness  as  superintendent  of  the 
Sunday  School,  his  reverence  for  the  character,  and  es 
timate  of  the  mission  of  Jesus,  his  constant  effort  to 
impress  on  the  young  the  type  of  goodness  presented 
in  the  New  Testament,  the  glowing  testimonies  borne 
on  all  occasions  to  the  indebtedness  of  man,  not  to  God 
alone,  but  to  the  only  being  worthy  to  be  called  His 
Son.  They  who  have  known  Mr.  Smith  at  home,  bear 
out  the  witness  of  the  good  clergyman.  No  feature  of 
that  remarkable  household  was  so  impressive  as  its 
deep,  living  piety.  The  bible  selection,  recited  from 
memory,  the  simple  petition  spoken  with  bowed  head 
and  tremulous  voice,  the  tender  spirit  of  trust  and  aspi 
ration,  are  sweet  memories  in  the  minds  of  even  unre- 
ligious  people.  Over  his  chamber  door  hung  a  framed 
tablet  on  which  was  embroidered  the  sentence  "  God  is 
Love,"  and  near  the  door  was  a  roll  of  bible  texts, 
called  "  The  Silent  Comforter,"  so  placed  that  his  eye 
fell  on  it  as  he  went  in  and  out,  and  caught  a  lesson  of 
strength  or  consolation.  The  man's  piety  was  simple, 
unaffected,  unreserved.  When  the  flood  of  feeling  came 


48  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

in,  it  bore  him  easily  over  all  the  barriers  of  mental  mis 
giving,  and  made  him  at  home  in  the  company  of  those 
whose  life  was  wholly  absorbed  in  God.  In  early  life  he 
was  scrupulous  to  comply  with  all  the  requirements  of  le 
gal  righteousness,  in  the  observance  of  times  and  seasons. 
He  was  a  strict  Sabbatarian.  He  lent  an  ear  to  the 
figurative  arguments  of  the  Millenarians,  and  was  in 
clined  to  try  whatever  experiments  in  faith  and  practice 
each  new  apostle  might  propose.  In  1832,  he  attends 
a  public  prayer  meeting  against  cholera.  In  1844,  he 
anticipates  a  near  end  of  the  world. 

Peterboro,  Oct.  ai,  1844.     Monday  Ev'g  half  past  8. 

My  Dearly  Beloved, — We  have  just  had  family  worship — perhaps 
for  the  last  time.  To-day's  mail  brought  me  four  copies  of  the  ex 
tra  Midnight  Cry.  It  declares  that  the  world  will  end  at  three  to 
morrow  morning.  The  Midnight  Cry  which  came  to-day  says  that 
time  may  possibly  continue  until  the  23d  or  even  the  24th.  There 
are  precious  things  in  this  number.  I  have  read  it  this  evening 
with  unusual  solemnity  and  tenderness  and  prayer.  .  . 

I  know  not  my  dear  Nancy,  that  we  shall  meet  in  the  air.  You 
will  be  there — for  you  have  long  loved  and  served  your  Saviour.  I 
cast  myself  on  his  mercy,  like  the  thief  on  the  Cross.  I  seek  his 
salvation,  though  it  is  in  the  last  hour.  And  how  my  eyes  have 
flowed  at  the  welcome  thought  that  we  shall  meet  our  dear  Fitzhugh 
and  Nanny!  Oh,  the  treasures  of  religion!  How  mad  have  I 
been  to  make  so  little  account  of  them  ! 

The  sincerity  of  the  piety  it  was  that  made  him 
break  with  pious  organizations.  There  is  no  radicalism 
like  that  of  the  spirit  that  is  fully  alive  to  real  things. 
Gerrit  Smith's  devoutness  was  rooted  in  his  natural 
heart  and  could  not  be  transplanted.  He  took  religion 
seriously,  held  himself  and  others  to  their  vows.  In 
1829,  his  reverence  for  the  Sabbath  impelled  him  to 
draw  up  a  petition  to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States 
praying  that  the  laws  regulating  the  post-office  depart- 


RELIGION.  49 

ment  might  be  so  amended,  as  not  to  require  the  trans 
mission  of  the  mail  and  the  opening  of  the  post-offices  on 
the  Lord's  Day.  The  petition  closes  with  these  impas 
sioned  sentences. 

"  Essential  as  the  Sabbath  is,  in  the  affairs  of  this  life,  it  is,  in  re 
lation  to  the  things  of  the  life  to  come,  and  in  its  office  to  prepare 
us  for  the  blessedness  beyond  the  grave,  unspeakably  more  impor 
tant.  It  is  God's  holy  day  ;  and  it  is  His  own  voice  which  com 
mands  us  to  '  remember  it  to  keep  it  holy.'  It  is  a  day  to  be  spent 
in  the  religious  service  of  Him  who  declares  that  *  the  kingdom  and 
nation  that  will  not  serve  Him  shall  perish.'  Let  us  conjure  yon  then, 
by  the  memory  of  those  holy  men  who  planted  this  nation,  because 
they  preferred  the  savage  wilderness  to  a  land  of  profaned  Sabbaths 
and  corrupted  Christianity  ;  by  the  memory  of  our  fathers,  whose 
piety,  as  emphatically  as  their  wisdom  and  blood,  contributed  to  se 
cure  the  independence,  and  to  frame  the  government  under  which 
we  live  ;  by  your  regard  for  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of  your  con 
stituents,  to  whose  religious  faith  the  Sabbath  is  even  more  dear 
than  their  lives  ;  and  lastly  let  us  conjure  you  by  that  final  accounta 
bility,  which  will  be  no  less  rigid  in  the  public  and  official,  than  in 
the  private  acts  of  men,  to  spare  the  Sabbath,  and  the  inestimable 
temporal  and  eternal  blessings  that  are  bound  up  in  it." 

This  was  quite  consistent  with  the  belief  that  the 
Sabbath  was  of  divine  ordinance,  however  uncomfortable 
to  luxurious  Christians  who  would  worship  both  God 
and  Mammon  by  driving  to  church  in  private  carriages, 
or  by  spending  the  hours  between  services  in  reading 
business  letters.  He  took  his  religion  seriously. 

The  same  stern  consistency  dictated  this  bible  Chris 
tian's  conduct  on  the  question  of  excluding  the  Bible 
from  the  public  schools.  In  December  of  1869,  he 
printed  and  distributed  a  sheet  on  "  The  Common 
School  Compromise,"  in  which  occurs  this  sentence: 

"  The  billows  of  agitation  are  rising  fearfully  high  ;  and  in  order 
to  sink  them  to  repose,  the  Bible,  like  another  Jonah,  must  be 

3 


5O  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  5.1/7  TV/. 

thrown  overboard.  Since  it  is  rending  the  school,  it  must,  like  the 
evil  spirits  of  old,  undergo  exorcism.  .  .  .  Surely,  surely,  the 
loss  in  such  a  compromise  would  be  greater  than  should  be  incurred. 
The  poor  sort  of  peace  which  the  school  would  get  in  exchange  for 
the  Bible  would  not  pay  for  the  loss.  .  .  But  it  is  said  that  the 
school  will  fall  if  the  Bible  is  allowed  to  remain  in  it.  Then  let  it 
fall.  However  great  might  be  this  loss,  it  nevertheless  can  be  better 
afforded  than  the  insulting  of  God  by  singling  out  this  book,  and 
this  only  for  expulsion  from  the  school.  But  must  not  our  children 
be  educated  ?  Not  in  a  school  which  proscribes  the  Bible." 

In  1873,  he  returned  to  the  subject  in  another  sheet 
entitled,  "  No  School  and  State,  as  well  as  no  Church 
and  State,"  and  there  repeated  the  sentiment  in  almost 
the  same  words. 

"  Any  institution  maybe  regarded  as  near  its  end  when  to  prolong 
its  life  it  falls  to  compromising.  One  of  these  proposed  compro 
mises  is  to  forego  prayer  in  the  school.  Another  is  to  forbid  all 
religious  teaching  in  it,  and  especially  to  exclude  the  Bible  from  it. 
Nothing  could  justify  the  ostracising  of  Shakespeare  and  Milton  from 
the  schools,  still  less  can  anything  justify  the  ostracising  of  the  Bi 
ble  from  it.  For  admitting  all  that  may  be  said  of  the  errors  in  the 
Bible,  no  other  book  equals  it  in  specimens  of  the  truest  eloquence, 
and  in  the  wisdom  and  purity  of  its  precepts." 

The  last  clause  shows  how  the  heart  could  be 
tenacious  of  positions  which  the  head  abandoned  ;  the 
concession  that  there  might  be  error  in  the  Bible,  being 
fatal  to  the  chief  argument  in  favor  of  retaining  it, 
namely,  that  it  was  "  God's  book."  Mr.  Matthew 
Arnold's  doctrine  that  the  Bible  is  invaluable  as  litera 
ture,  had  not,  at  this  time,  become  familiar. 

Mr.  Smith  was  early  brought  to  see  and  condemn 
the  evils  of  sectarianism.  Among  the  first  entries  in  the 
journal  is  the  following  : 

October  12,  1828,  "The  church  have  resolved  to  meet  Wednes 
day  next  to  consider  the  subject  of  intemperance,  and  to  take  such 
steps  regarding  this  vice  as  shall  appear  proper." 


RELIGION".  5 1 

October  16,  "  Agreeably  to  appointment,  a  number  of  the  mem 
bers  of  our  church  met  this  Wednesday,  and  discussed  the  subject 
of  intemperance.  I  presented  a  paper  which  binds  the  subscribers 
to  abstain  totally  from  drinking-  ardent  spirits  except  in  cases  of 
sickness.  It  was  signed  by  all  present  but  two." 

October  19,  "  I  find  that  many  members  of  our  church  are  op 
posed  to  our  measures  for  suppressing  intemperance.  Their  eyes  are 
not  yet  opened  to  the  nature  and  magnitude  of  the  evil.  Oh,  that 
God  would  give  us  all  a  spirit  to  inquire  of  Him  what  is  our  duty  in 
this  matter." 

It  was  Mr.  Smith's  habit  to  preserve  in  scrap  books 
everything  he  printed  in  papers,  whatever  the  substance 
or  form.  In  the  first  of  these  volumes  is  the  following 
remarkable  letter: 

Peterboro,  June  22,  1839. 

REV.  LUTHER  MYRICK  : 

My  Dear  Sir — Instances  are  continually  occurring  to  remind  us 
of  the  evil  influences  of  sectarianism  in  the  church  of  Christ,  and  to 
strengthen  the  desire  for  the  abolition  of  all  religious  sects. 

One  of  these  instances  is  the  disposition  which  was  recently 
made  of  the  slavery  question  by  the  New  School  General  Assembly. 
It  will  not  be  denied  that  a  majority  of  the  members  of  that  As-"' 
sembly  believed  that  American  slavery  is  sin — enormous,  heaveti- 
daring  sin.  Why  then  did  they  refuse  to  declare  this  to  be  its  char 
acter  ?  The  debates  of  the  Assembly  on  the  question  of  slavery  show 
why.  They  conclusively  show,  that,  whilst  as  men,  as  abolitionists, 
and  as  Christians,  the  majority  of  the  members  were  ready  to  ascribe 
to  slavery  its  own  awfully  and  transcendently  wicked  character  ; 
nevertheless  as  Presbyterians,  they  were  not.  The  debates  show, 
in  other  words,  that  the  Assembly  were  willing  to  merge  their 
humanity,  their  morals  and  their  religion  in  their  Presbyterianism. 
They  had  the  Presbyterian  church  and  the  New  School  General 
Assembly  to  take  care  of;  and  they  were  just  starting  on  a  new 
career  of  glory  to  God  and  advantage  to  man.  That  they  should,  in 
these  circumstances,  make  a  declaration  of  the  sinfulness  of  slavery 
- — that  they  should  freight  their  scarcely  righted  New  School  Pres 
byterian  ship  with  odious  abolition — in  a  word,  that  they  should 
exceedingly  prejudice  their  cause  in  the  very  outset — all  this  seemed 
in  their  eyes  most  inexpedient.  It  was  in  this  wise,  that  they  con 
ferred  with  flesh  and  blood,  leaned  to  their  own  understanding,  in- 


52  LIFE   OF  G  ERR  IT  SMITH. 

stead  of  trusting  in  the  Lord  with  all  their  hearts,  took  counsel  of 
expediency,  and,  as  a  matter  of  course,  came  to  the  conclusion,  that 
they  would  "  suffer  sin  upon  "  their  countrymen,  and  refuse  to  "  cry 
aloud  and  spare  not,  and  show  the  people  their  transgression,  and 
the  house  of  Jacob  their  sins." 

I  will  mention  another  instance,  in  which  good  men  have  suf 
fered  their  concern  for  a  sect  to  control  their  Christianity  and  Abo 
litionism.  In  the  Anti-slavery  Convention  held  at  Auburn  the  present 
week,  I  referred  to  this  dereliction  of  principle  in  the  New  School 
Assembly  to  illustrate  the  corruption  which  the  doctrines  of  expedi 
ency  have  wrought  in  the  American  church.  I  did  not  take  the 
ground,  that  the  Assembly  was  bound  to  discuss  the  question  of 
slavery.  For  the  sake  of  the  argument,  I  yielded,  (what  truth  for 
bids)  that  it  was  not.  But  I  insisted,  that,  having  agreed  to  discuss 
it,  they  were  traitorous  to  the  cause  of  truth,  for  refusing  to  express 
their  opinion  of  its  moral  character — as  much  so,  I  said,  as  I  should 
be,  if,  having  consented  to  discuss  the  subject  of  intemperance,  I 
should  confine  myself  to  the  economical  and  political  bearings  of  the 
vice,  and  refuse  to  declare  its  wickedness.  I  might  have  said,  more 
so,  since  it  is  expected  of  ecclesiastical  bodies,  when  they  discuss 
the  merits  of  an  institution  or  practice,  that  they  will  pronounce,  not 
only  mainly,  but  almost,  if  not  quite,  exclusively,  on  its  moral  char 
acter.  I  might  also  have  said,  that  their  omission  to  decide  upon 
the  moral  character  of  slavery  implies  that,  in  the  judgment  of  the 
Assembly,  slavery  is  not  condemned  of  God. 

Now,  will  you  believe  it,  that  some  of  the  dear,  ay  and  of  the 
very  dearest  of  the  brethren  in  the  convention,  were  greatly  pained 
at  my  complaints  of  the  New  School  Assembly?  Will  you  believe 
it,  that  they  even  justified  the  Assembly  ?  "  What,"  say  you,  "  Ab 
olitionists  justify  it !  and  that  too,  in  an  anti-slavery  convention  ! ' 

It  is  even  so,  notwithstanding  the  cause  of  humanity  is  bleeding 
and  dying  for  the  lack  of  the  testimony  of  our  ecclesiastical  bodies 
against  the  wickedness  of  slavery ;  there  are,  nevertheless,  good  men, 
good  Abolitionists  too,  who  justify  the  withholding  of  that  testimony. 

Do  you  ask  me  whether  any  Baptists  or  Methodists  were  pained 
at  my  censures  ?  None,  so  far  as  I  know.  Though  had  I  visited 
similar  censures  on  Baptists  and  Methodists,  there  would  very  prob 
ably  have  been  Baptist  and  Methodist  murmurs.  I  believe  none  but 
Presbyterians,  and  they  of  the  New  School  only,  were  grieved  at  my 
plain  dealing. 

I  need  not  say,  that  it  made  my  heart  sad  to  see  the  dear  men, 
who  were  dissatisfied  with  me,  suffering  their  religion,  their  love  of 


RELIGION.  53 

impartial  and  universal  liberty,  and  their  very  manhood,  to  bow  to 
their  sectarianism.  The  Lord  hasten  the  time  for  the  breaking  of 
all  party  cords  in  the  church  !  The  word  can  never  have  free  course 
and  be  glorified  in  the  midst  of  sectarian  predilections.  Baptists, 
Methodists,  Presbyterians,  Episcopalians,  etc.  etc.,  must  embrace  a 
common  and  unsectarian  Christianity,  before  they  will  permit  the 
truth  to  do  its  perfect  work. 

One  thing  more.  What  right  have  they  to  present  themselves  as 
ethical  instructors  and  spiritual  advisers,  who  have  not  the  discern 
ment  to  see,  nor  the  honesty  to  say,  that  slavery  is  sin  ?  Common 
sense  revolts  at  the  attachment  of  authority  or  the  manifestation  of 
respect  to  any  of  the  opinions  of  an  ecclesiastical  assembly,  that  re 
fuses  to  pronounce  as  sinful  the  system  which  forbids  marriage  and 
the  reading  of  the  Bible,  and  that  markets  men,  women  and  children 
as  beasts.  Whether  the  refusal  proceeds  from  ignorance  or  dis 
honesty,  it  equally  argues  the  unfitness  of  those  who  are  guilty  of  it, 
to  be  our  religious  teachers. 

I  trust  you  will  not  suppose  from  what  I  have  said,  that  I  have 
less  respect  for  the  New  School  Assembly,  than  I  have  for  the  Bap 
tist  National  Convention,  or  the  Methodist  General  Conference,  or 
other  ecclesiastical  bodies.  Least  of  all,  would  I  have  you  think, 
that  I  hold  it  in  less  esteem  than  I  do  the  Old  School  Assembly.  It 
was  creditable  to  the  New  School  Assembly  to  discuss  the  question 
of  slavery.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  there  is  no  term  of  reproach  too 
severe  to  bestow  on  that  Resolution  of  the  rival  Assembly,  which  as 
it  commends  to  the  support  of  the  churches  that  wicked  and  in 
famous  society,  whose  leading  doctrine  is,  that  perpetual  slavery  is 
to  be  preferred  to  unconditional  and  immediate  emancipation,  does 
virtually  sanction  slavery. 

Your  friend  and  brother, 

GERRIT  SMITH. 

How  vital  this  matter  is  becoming  appears  from  the 
ensuing  note  in  the  journal  of  May  7,  1843. 

Sabbath  morning.  "  I  did  not  attend  the  preparatory  lecture 
yesterday,  and  I  do  not  propose  to  partake  to-day  of  the  Lord's 
Supper.  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  company  of  men 
and  women  with  whom  I  formerly  worshipped,  do  not  perform  the 
office,  and  exhibit  the  character  of  a  Church  of  Christ.  It  has  long 
been  a  grief  to  me  that  they  preferred  their  sectarianism  to  Christian 
Union.  I  was  amazed  that  the  churches  of  Peterboro  should  show 


54  LIFE   OF  G ERR  IT  SMITH. 

themselves  to  be  no  better  than  the  world  in  respect  to  the  mob 
which  disgraced  Peterboro  last  summer.  But  still  I  could  not  bring 
myself  to  look  upon  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Peterboro  as  not  a 
Church  of  Jesus  Christ.  Last  fall,  however,  and  the  early  part  of 
the  winter,  it  was  urged  to  pass  resolutions  against  slavery  and 
intemperance  and  forbore  to  do  so.  I  then  inquired  of  my  heart : 
can  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Peterboro  be  such  a  company  of  re 
formers, — such  a  '  light  of  the  world,' — such  a  '  city  set  on  a  hill,'  as 
a  true  Church  of  Christ  must  necessarily  be  ? — and  long  since  my 
heart  has  answered  :  It  cannot  be.  It  is  distinguished  indeed,  from 
the  world  in  that  it  statedly  prays,  sings  holy  songs,  and  listens  to 
sermons.  But  is  this  distinction  sufficient  to  prove  that  its  spirit  is 
not  the  spirit  of  the  world  and  that  it  is  a  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  ? 
It  surely  is  not. 

"  1  trust  that  it  is  in  no  spirit  of  self-righteousness  that  I  have 
separated  myself  from  my  fellow  worshippers,  '  I  know  I'm  guilty, — 
know  I'm  vile.'  There  is  no  part  of  my  life, — not  a  day — not  an 
hour— on  which  I  look  back  with  complacency.  I  know,  too,  that 
there  are  precious  friends  of  God  in  that  church  ;  and  when  I  say 
that  collectively,  they  do  not  resemble  and  do  not  perform  the  office 
of  a  Church  of  Christ,  I  wish  not  to  be  understood  as  condemning 
this,  or  that,  or  the  other  member  of  the  church.  If  it  be  said  that 
it  ctoes  not  become  one  whose  sins  are  so  numerous  and  aggravated 
as  mine,  to  condemn  a  church,  my  answer  is  that  the  fact  that  my 
sins  are  already  so  numerous  and  aggravated  is  a  sufficient  reason 
why  I  should  not  add  another  to  them, — especially  the  great  sin  of 
countenancing  as  a  Church  of  Christ,  that  which,  in  my  heart,  I  do 
not  believe  is  a  Church  of  Christ. 

"  I  shall  here  mention  that  one  of  the  greatest  trials  of  my  heart, 
in  respect  to  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Peterboro,  is  its  continued, 
though  oft  remonstrated  against  connection  with  the  General  As 
sembly, — a  body  so  exceedingly  wicked  as  deliberately  to  refuse  to 
say  that  slavery  is  sin.  I  must  not  omit  to  mention  that  the  dis 
mission  of  Mr. for  no  other  reason,  as  I  think,  than  his  faithful 

preaching  on  slavery,  intemperance  and  some  other  sins,  argues 
strongly  against  the  character  of  the  church." 

Many  years  later,  writing  in  1865  about  the  rebellion, 
he  said: 

41  We  need  a  better  religion.  Our  laws  have  been  on  the  side  of 
oppression.  Our  religion  has  gone  to  the  polls  and  voted  for  the 


RELIGION.  55 

buyers  and  sellers  of  men.  How  shall  we  get  better  laws  and  a 
better  religion  ?  Only  by  getting  juster  and  higher  conceptions  of 
the  dignity  and  grandeur  and  sacredness  of  man.  Our  laws  and  our 
religion  will  conform  precisely  to  those  conceptions.  Contemptible 
will  be  the  laws  and  religion  of  every  people,  who  think  contemptu 
ously  of  man.  But  beautiful  and  blessed  will  be  the  laws  and  re 
ligion  which  reverence  human  nature,  even  when  in  its  lowest  con 
dition — even  when  in  ignorance  and  rags  and  chains.  This  is  the 
religion  which  Jesus  taught." 

The  evils  resulting  from  sectarianism  struck  deep, 
and  roused  in  him  the  reformer's  zeal. 

Dec.  29,  1840,  "  This,  Tuesday  evening,  some  sixty  persons  met 
in  the  session  room.  Elder  Maddock  opened  with  prayer.  Captain 
Myers  was  appointed  chairman  and  Loring  Fowler  secretary.  Rev. 
Mr.  Schofield  was  not  present.  He  is  unwilling  to  countenance  it. 
Introduced  the  following  series  of  resolutions. 

1.  "Whereas  the  Bible  teaches  that  the  union,  the  oneness  of 
Christians  is  important  ; — even  so  important  that  the  world  might 
be  convinced  by  it  that  Jesus  is  sent  of  God,  and  that  his  disciples 
are   beloved   of  God ; — Resolved,   therefore,   that   the   division   of 
Christians  into  rival  sects  or  parties  is  unscriptural  and  wicked. 

2.  "  Whereas   the  Bible  teaches  that  a  person  who  is  rightfully- 
excluded  from  the  fellowship  of  a  Church  of  Christ  should  no  longer 
be  regarded   as  a  Christian, — Resolved,  therefore,  that  it  is   mani 
festly  anti-bible  to  exclude  from  such   fellowship  or  to  receive  into 
it  any  person  who  is  admitted  to  be  a  Christian. 

3.  "  Resolved,  that  Christians  have  but  to  adopt  and  carry  out 
the  obviously  true  propositions  of  the  foregoing  resolutions,  and  a 
common  Christianity  and  a  common  church  would  take  the  place  of 
the  Methodist  and  Presbyterian  and  Baptist  and  other  sects  which 
now  divide  and  afflict  and  corrupt  Zion." 

These  resolutions  were  discussed  at  frequent  meetings 
and  found  more  or  less  favor,  but  were  never  adopted. 
No  church  was  ready  for  so  radical  a  reform  as  they 
implied.  Outside  of  Peterboro  the  mover  of  them  re 
ceived  such  welcome  as  usually  awaits  the  reformer. 
This,  from  the  "  Presbyterian  "  of  Philadelphia,  is  an 
example : 


56  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

"  Gerrit  Smith's  anti-sect  meeting  has  just  been  held  in  Oswego, 
New  York,  and  resolutions  denouncing  the  churches  of  every  name 
were  adopted.  Beyond  that,  it  was  of  course,  impossible  to  go,  as  it 
would  not  be  strictly  consistent  to  form  a  new  sect  on  the  ground  of 
hostility  to  all  sects.  Mr.  Smith  made  a  strenuous  effort  to  get  the 
convention  to  avow  his  peculiar  views  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  war, 
etc. ;  but  the  most  of  the  members  thought  it  best  to  confine  them 
selves  to  the  single  business  of  breaking  down  church  walls.  The 
following  resolution  was  discussed  by  several  Presbyterian,  Baptist, 
Unitarian,  and  Universalist  clergymen  and  laymen  ;  the  two  latter 
sects  in  its  favor,  the  two  former  against  it.  The  Rev.  William 
Max,  Gerrit  Smith,  and  an  old  Quaker,  named  McClintock,  spoke 
in  the  affirmative  and  it  was  passed. 

44  Resolved,  that  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  makes  abundant 
provision  for  the  closer  and  closer  union  of  His  disciples  with 
each  other ;  but  makes  none  at  all  for  their  separation  from  each 
other  ;  and  that  the  dividing  of  Christians  into  parties  and  sects  does 
no  less  violence  to  that  mythical  body  of  which  they  are  all  members, 
than  it  does  to  the  natural  or  literal  body  by  tearing  asunder  its 
constituent  parts." 

••  We  do  not  know  an  instance  in  which  is  exhibited  with  more 
clearness  and  melancholy  interest,  the  downward  tendency  of  ultra- 
ism  than  is  afforded  in  the  case  of  Gerrit  Smith.  We  remember 
well  when  he  was  an  eloquent  and  powerful  advocate  of  every  good 
cause,  a  noble  philanthropist  and  a  leading  man.  Possessed  of  a 
large  fortune,  a  commanding  person,  and  a  persuasive  eloquence, 
with  a  generous  spirit  and  a  warm  heart,  he  was  evidently  endowed 
with  the  gifts  essential  to  the  highest  degree  of  success  in  the  path 
of  usefulness  and  honor  which  he  had  marked  out  for  himself. 
Probably  the  impulses  of  his  benevolence  were  too  strong  for  his 
judgment,  and  he  was  consumed  in  his  own  zeal.  He  was  natu 
rally  an  enthusiast ;  he  soon  became  fanatical.  And  of  late  years 
there  has  scarcely  been  a  scheme  of  moral  reform  too  visionary  for 
his  adoption  and  patronage.  A  Sabbath  lecturer  on  political  aboli 
tion,  and  an  anti-church  preacher  on  week-days,  he  now  devotes  his 
wealth  and  his  mind  to  the  overthrow  of  institutions  that  he  once 
regarded  with  the  most  filial  reverence  and  devoted  love. 

44  Such  a  career  is  worth  looking  at.  It  affords  a  sad  illustration 
of  the  instability  of  man,  and  of  the  power  of  truth.  What  has  Mr. 
Smith  done  during  the  years  of  his  war  upon  the  churches  of  God  ? 
He  has  made  himself  conspicuous  as  a  beacon  ;  but  what  good  has 
he  done  ?  We  might  also  ask,  what  harm  has  he  done  ?  Have  any 


58  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

"  We  learn  from  the  Holy  Scriptures,  which  are  the  only  infallible 
guide  in  all  questions  of  morality  and  religion,  that  Christian  and 
church  relations  spring  not  from  external  fellowship  and  human  ar 
rangements,  but  from  the  union  of  those  who  are  the  subjects  of 
such  relations  with  Jesus  Christ,  who  is  '  the  Head  of  the  body,  the 
church.'  (Col.  i.  18:  Eph.  ii.  20:  iv.  15,  16 :  v.  23,  30:  John  xv.  5: 
i  Peter  ii.  4,  5,  6  :  Rom.  vii.  4  :  xii.  4,  5.)  Hence  we  believe  that  the 
Church  of  Christ  on  earth  is  composed  of  all  the  Christians  on  earth  ; 
that  the  Church  of  Christ  in  any  nation  is  composed  of  all  the  Chris 
tians  in  such  nation  ;  and  that  the  Church  of  Christ  in  any  smaller 
community,  even  down  to  a  single  family,  (Rom.  xvi.  5  :  i  Corin.  xvi. 
19:)  is  composed  of  all  the  Christians  in  such  community.  Thus 
believing,  we  declare  that  the  Christians  of  Peterboro  and  its  vicinity 
compose  a  church  ;  and  that  following  apostolic  usage,  we  may 
properly  call  it  *  THE  CHURCH  OF  PETERBORO.'  The  propriety  of 
this  name,  and  also  the  propriety  of  declaring  that  all  the  Christians 
of  a  given  locality  constitute  the  church  of  said  locality,  are  justified 
by  the  following  and  other  texts  :  Rom.  i.  7  :  I  Cor.  i.  2:  Eph.  i.  i  : 
Phil.  i.  I  connected  with  Phil.  10.  15  :  Col.  i.  2  :  in  2d  and  3d  Rev. 
•  church  of  Ephesus,"  etc.,  etc.  As  a  consequence  of  the  beliefs 
which  we  have  expressed,  we  acknowledge  ourselves  bound,  not  to 
vote  into  our  local  Church,  for  we  can  neither  vote  into  it  nor  vote 
out  of  it,  but  bound  to  recognize  as  a  member  of  it  any  person  within 
our  territorial  limits  who  affords  satisfactory  evidence  that  he  is  a  dis 
ciple  and  friend  of  Christ,  and  bound  too,  to  do  this  even  in  the  case 
of  those  who  do  not  consent  to  our  thus  recognizing  them,  and  even 
in  the  case  of  those  who,  in  their  doctrines  and  practices,  or  both,  are 
peculiar,  unscriptural,  blameworthy  be  it  to  whatever  extent  it  may  ; 
and  the  consequence  of  the  beliefs  which  we  have  expressed  is,  that 
whilst  we  are  to  maintain  a  strict  church  discipline,  and  to  admonish 
and  rebuke  each  other  as  occasion  may  call  for  such  fidelity,  we  are 
to  deem  no  persons  worthy  of  being  disfellowshipped  by  us,  but 
those  whom  we  have  ceased  to  regard  as  Christians." 

And  here  are  the  resolutions  that  accompanied  the 
statement  and  were  adopted  with  it. 

RESOLUTIONS. 

1st.  Resolved,  That , ,  be  deacons  of  this  church. 

2d.  Resolved,  That  Samuel  Wells,  of  Vernon,  is  affectionately  in 
vited  to  remove  into  this  community,  and  thereby  become  a  member 


RELIGION'.  59 

of  this  church  ;  and  that  in  the  event  of  such  removal,  he  be  expected 
to  officiate  as  its  elder  or  bishop,  and  to  assume  that  share  of  in 
structing  and  feeding  it,  which  is  appropriate  to  one  whom  the  Holy 
Ghost  hath  made  an  overseer,  (Acts  xx.  28). 

3d.  Resolved,  That  in  view  of  the  abundant  means  of  living  in 
this  neighborhood,  we  hope  our  elder  may  always  be  in  circum 
stances  to  give  himself  "  continually  to  prayer  and  to  the  ministry  of 
the  word."  (Acts  vi.  4.)  But,  whether  such  shall  be  his  circum 
stances,  or  whether  he  shall  be  compelled  to  "  labor,  working  with 
his  own  hands,"  (  ist  Cor.  iv.  12),  we  can  not  without  guiltily  shutting 
our  eyes  to  the  glaring  evils  of  the  practice  of  subscribing  salaries  to 
preachers  of  the  gospel,  promise  him  a  salary.  We  trust  that  con 
tributions  in  money  will  be  made  in  our  place  of  worship  from  Sab 
bath  to  Sabbath,  and  that  the  deacons,  in  their  appropriation  of  these 
contributions — a  part  to  this  needy  disciple  and  a  part  to  that — a  part 
to  one  object  and  a  part  to  another — will  pay  especial  and  constant 
regard  to  the  wants  of  the  elder  and  his  family. 

4th.  Resolved,  That  the  elder  be  expected  to  keep  an  account 
of  all  the  contributions,  whether  in  money  or  otherwise,  which  shall 
be  made  to  him  by  his  church  and  congregation,  and  that  he  be  ex 
pected  to  make  a  public  and  full  report  thereof,  at  the  expiration  of 
every  three  months. 

5th.  Resolved,  That  for  the  edification  both  of  its  members  and 
others,  for  the  honoring  and  establishing  of  the  truth — this  church 
will,  as  there  shall  be  occasion  for  it,  express  its  convictions  in  relation 
to  doctrines  and  practices. 

6th.  Resolved,  That  a  Church  of  Christ  is  a  company  of  moral 
reformers  ;  and,  therefore,  that  a  church  which  refuses  to  engage  in 
the  prosecution  of  moral  reforms,  especially  those  that  are  nearest 
at  hand  and  most  urgent,  is,  however  excellent  maybe  the  character 
of  individuals  in  it,  not  a  Church  of  Christ. 

7th.  Resolved,  That  sectarianism,  guilty  as  it  so  clearly  is  of 
rending  the  seamless  garment  (John  xix.  23)  of  the  Saviour — of  di 
viding  the  Church  of  Christ  into  mutually  warring  parties — of  tearing 
asunder  those  who  should  esteem  themselves  to  "  be  one,"  even  as 
the  Father  and  the  Son  "  are  one  "  (John  xvii.  22)  ;  guilty  also,  as  it 
so  clearly  is,  of  making  the  strongest  and  most  successful  appeals  to 
the  pride,  bigotry,  and  intolerance  of  the  heart ;  is,  therefore,  the 
mightiest  foe  on  earth  to  truth  and  reform,  to  God  and  man  ;  that  is, 
in  its  features  and  spirit,  one  of  the  most  marked  children  of  its 
"  father,  the  Devil." 

8th.  Whereas  there  is  a  prevailing  delusion,  that  a  Union  Church 


60  LIFE   OF  CERRIT  SMITH. 

requires  a  surrender  of  private  judgment  and  a  compromise  of  truth  ; 
and  that  but  for  this  surrender  and  compromise,  the  contentions  in 
such  church  would  be  too  great  to  be  endured  :  Resolved,  therefore, 
that  the  members  of  a  Union  or  Gospel  Church  are  not  only  free  to 
entertain  their  respective  views,  both  of  doctrine  and  practice,  but 
are  bound  to  inculcate  them  on  their  brethren,  and  to  rebuke  the 
rejection  of  them  ;  Resolved,  further,  that  while,  on  the  one  hand, 
such  freedom  and  faithfulness  do  not  only  not  engender  fatal 
strife,  but  do  actually  produce  assimilation  of  character  and  that 
true  peace  which  follows  purity  (James  iii.  17),  the  barriers  which 
sectarianism  erects  do,  on  the  other  hand,  by  hindering  the  mutual 
access,  and  fomenting  the  mutual  jealousies,  of  Christians,  obstruct 
the  progress  of  truth,  and  maintain  an  increasing  disagreement  of 
sentiments  and  opposition  between  those  who  are  commanded  to  be 
"  perfectly  joined  together  in  the  same  mind  and  in  the  same  judg 
ment"  (i  Cor.  i.  10),  and  to  merge  their  diversities  of  character 
even  in  oneness  itself  (John  xvii.  21,  22,  23). 

9th.  Resolved,  That  although,  as  is  evident  from  the  I5th  chapter 
of  Acts,  there  are  occasions  which  justify  the  assembling  of  Chris 
tians  together  from  the  different  parts  of  a  country,  or  from  different 
parts  of  the  world,  to  discuss  and  decide  on  questions  of  religious  in 
terest  ;  nevertheless,  for  a  local  church  to  refuse  to  come  into  an 
Association  of  Churches,  is  a  wise  precaution  for  preserving  its 
independence  and  purity. 

loth.  Whereas  the  mob  which,  in  the  year  1842,  disgraced  this 
community,  and  which  is  justly  supposed  to  be  the  most  fruitful 
cause  of  the  disorders  and  lawlessness  that  have  subsequently  pre 
vailed  amongst  us,  was  approved,  rather  than  condemned,  by  the 
great  majority  of  our  professing  Christians :  Resolved,  therefore, 
that  this  church  feels  itself  loudly  called  on  to  declare  that  mob  to 
have  been,  what  ever)-  other  mob  is,  a  most  flagrant  outrage  on  hu 
man  and  divine  laws — on  the  rights  of  man  and  the  rights  of  God. 

nth.  Whereas  there  are  in  this  community  professing  Chris 
tians,  as  well  as  other  persons,  who  defend  the  use  of  intoxicating 
liquors  as  a  drink  ;  and  who  also  defend  the  selling  of  grain  to  the 
brewer  and  distiller  :  Resolved,  therefore,  that  this  church  condemns 
such  defences  as  unscriptural  and  wicked  ;  and  pronounces  the 
selling  of  such  liquors  for  a  drink — the  licensing  sale  of  them  for 
that  purpose — the  election  of  officers  who  license  the  sale  of  them 
for  that  purpose— and  the  furnishing  of  materials  for  the  manufac 
ture  of  them  for  that  purpose — to  be  all  parts,  one  of  them  as  cer 
tainly  so  as  another,  in  that  great  and  horrid  work  of  death,  which 


RELIGION.  6 1 

has  already  destroyed  the  bodies  and  souls  of  millions  of  our 
countrymen. 

1 2th.  Whereas  there  are  professing  Christians  amongst  us  who 
patronize  missionary  and  other  societies,  which  solicit  contributions 
from  slaveholders  :  Resolved,  therefore,  That  such  professing  Chris 
tians  cannot  be  sinless,  unless  God  has  repealed  his  declaration  : 
"  I  hate  robbery  for  burnt-offering."  (Isaiah  Ixi.  8.) 

1 3th.  Whereas,  there  are  in  this  community  professing  Chris 
tians,  as  well  as  others,  who  vote  to  fill  civil  offices  with  slaveholders, 
and  with  persons  who  wield  their  official  power  in  behalf  of  the 
most  murderous  and  diabolical  oppression  of  millions  of  God's  poor  : 
Resolved,  therefore,  That  it  is  the  duty  of  this  Church  to  declare  such 
voting  to  be  very  guilty  treason  toward  the  cause  of  humanity  and 
the  cause  of  God.  And  whereas  the  criminality  of  such  voting  is 
partially,  or  entirely,  hidden  to  many  eyes  by  plausible  excuses,  such  as 
that  there  cannot  be  great  sin  in  voting  with  a  large  party,  in  voting 
as  thousands  and  millions  vote,  such  as  that  the  person  voted  for, 
although  on  the  side  of  the  oppressor,  will  nevertheless,  if  elected, 
accomplish  in  his  office  more  good  than  evil,  and  will  wisely  conform 
himself  to  the  maxim  which  requires  the  securing  of  "  the  greatest 
good  to  the  greatest  number  ":  Resolved,  therefore,  That  God  has 
left  his  admonitions — "  Thou  shalt  not  follow  a  multitude  to  do  evil," 
(Ex.  xxiii.  2.) :  "  Though  hand  join  in  hand,  the  wicked  shall  not  be 
unpunished,"  (Prov.  xi.  21),  for  the  very  purpose  of  teaching  men 
that  they  cannot  hide  themselves  and  escape  from  responsibility  in  a 
crowd  ;  and  that,  in  the  light  of  these  admonitions  and  of  other 
divine  instructions,  the  whole  sin  of  electing  a  tyrant,  or  an  upholder 
of  tyranny,  rests  on  each  of  the  votes,  as  well  as  on  the  sum  of  the 
votes  which  elect  him.  And  Resolved,  further,  That  so  long  as  the 
maxim  should  be,  not  "the  greatest  good  of  the  greatest  number," 
but  "the  greatest  good  of  the  whole  number;"  and  so  long  as 
Christianity  forbids  our  seeking  the  good  even  of  a  universe,  at  the 
expense  of  the  least  right  of  the  least  being  in  it,  it  cannot  be  proper 
to  clothe  a  person  with  official  power,  when  we  foresee  that  it  will  be 
employed  to  wrong,  though  it  may  be  but  a  single  individual,  and 
that  too,  the  obscurest  individual  among  the  millions  subject  to  such 
power.  And  Resolved,  further,  That  if  the  consideration  that  he 
will  exercise  his  official  power  justly  towards  others  of  his  fellow-men, 
can  authorize  us  to  set  up  a  tyrant  over  some  of  them,  then  by  the 
like  reasoning,  can  that  tyrant  derive  from  the  justice  of  his  dealings 
with  some  persons  a  license  to  be  unjust  toward  others  ;  then  can 
the  adulterer,  the  slaveholder,  the  murderer,  be  able  to  vindicate 


62  LIFE  OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

their  adultery,  slaveholding  and  murder,  if  they  can  prove  that  the 
harm  which  they  have  done  to  some  of  their  fellow-beings  by  these 
crimes,  is  overbalanced  by  the  benefit  which,  in  whatever  way,  they 
have  done  to  others  of  them.  To  illustrate  and  justify  the  positions 
of  this  resolution,  we  say,  that  whoever  would  estimate  the  meas 
ure  of  his  own  sin  against  the  tens  of  thousands  of  slaves  in  the 
District  of  Columbia  and  in  the  Territory  of  Florida,  for  having  voted 
to  fill  the  office  of  President  of  the  United  States  with  a  tyrant  who 
uses  the  power  of  that  office  to  retain  in  slavery  those  tens  of  thou 
sands,  should  hold  out  of  view  every  other  vote  cast  for  that  tyrant 
except  his  own,  and  make  his  own  wholly  responsible  for  the  elec 
tion  ;  and  should  also  hold  out  of  view  all,  however  good  or  bad  of 
the  official  acts  and  influences  of  that  tyrant,  save  only  such  as  bear 
on  those  tens  of  thousands  of  slaves. 

I4th.  Whereas  there  is,  even  amongst  professors  of  religion,  a 
prevailing  opinion  that  it  is  wrong  to  preach  politics  on  the  Sabbath. 
Resolved,  That  the  correctness  of  this  opinion  turns  wholly  on  the 
character  of  the  politics  which  are  preached  ;  for  whilst  it  is  clearly 
wrong  to  preach  anti-Bible  or  unrighteous  politics  on  the  Sabbath 
or  on  any  other  day,  nothing  can  be  clearer  than  that  no  day  is  too 
holy  to  be  used  in  preaching  the  politics  which  are  inculcated  in  the 
Bible. 

It  would  be  hard  to  put  thoughts  into  plainer  words. 
To  read  them,  running,  is  easy ;  yet,  from  the  amount 
of  controversy  they  started,  from  the  letters  and  leading 
articles,  the  criticisms  and  objurgations,  the  biblical, 
metaphysical,  theological,  christological  effusions  that 
deluge  the  folio  pages  of  the  scrap  book,  one  would 
imagine  that  some  problem  of  unknown  depth  and  dark 
ness  had  been  thrown  down  for  the  confusion  of  an 
unsophisticated  Christendom.  And  such  indeed  was  the 
case ;  for  to  the  believers  of  that  time,  as  to  the  believers 
of  ours,  the  mystery  of  mysteries  was  the  secret  of  re 
ligious  fellowship.  Mr.  Smith's  plan,— for  he  was  its 
author,  formulator  and  executor — was  practical,  purely 
and  simply  practical.  The  evil  he  tried  to  avoid  was 
sectarianism  ;  the  good  he  hoped  to  secure  was  moral 


RELIGION.  63 

harmony  and  cooperation.  He  wished  to  detach  the 
realm  of  doctrine,  since  all  could  not  think  alike,  and  of 
practice  too,  since  all  could  not  reason  alike  on  questions 
of  applied  ethics,  from  the  realm  of  desire,  aspiration, 
motive,  purpose,  where  all  could  agree ;  where  at  least, 
their  disagreement  was  beyond  dispute.  To  the  ques 
tions:  How  are  you  to  know  that  any  particular  person 
is  a  Christian  ?  How  are  you  to  agree  in  recognizing 
any  particular  person  as  a  Christian?  What  is  your 
test?  he  gave  no  answer.  And  he  was  safe  in  giving 
none.  It  was  timely  to  meet  such  questions  when  they 
arose.  It  was  not  likely  that  they  would  arise.  None 
but  earnest  people,  Christians  at  heart,  would  care  to 
connect  themselves  with  a  church  like  this ;  and  Chris 
tians  at  heart,  who  were  sincere  in  their  allegiance  to 
Christ,  would  have  no  difficulty  in  clinging  together 
when  the  purpose  was  to  admit  none  but  the  most  in 
terior  causes  of  separation.  Mr.  Smith  was  not  inclined 
to  take  up  the  metaphysics  of  the  matter,  perhaps  he 
was  not  competent  to  do  it ;  whether  he  was  or  not,  he 
did  not  care  to.  Theological  dispute  was  precisely  what 
he  was  determined  to  avoid. 

Within  the  circumstances  the  experiment  worked 
reasonably  well.  The  little  chapel  erected  by  Mr. 
Smith,  about  the  year  1847,  f°r  the  use  °f  the  Church  of 
Peterboro,  was  open  for  that  purpose  until  within  two 
years  of  his  death,  when  failing  health,  pressing  cares 
and  the  irksomeness  of  maintaining  the  interest,  almost 
alone,  compelled  him  reluctantly  to  close  its  doors.  The 
membership  had  dwindled  to  a  handful,  and  of  this 
handful  he  was  the  soul.  No  change  of  theological 
views  induced  him  to  abandon  the  enterprise  he  had 


64  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

held  dear  for  so  many  years,  but  simply  the  sense  of 
inability  to  sustain  it  longer,  and  without  him  it  was 
nothing.  The  church,  in  its  palmiest  days,  had  its 
troubles,  but  they  were  neither  many  nor  serious.  In 
ternal  divisions  tried  the  patience  and  faith  of  the  mem 
bers.  There  were  discussions  on  points  of  doctrine,  and 
disputes  on  points  of  practice.  There  was  occasional 
sharpness  of  speech  and  bitterness  of  feeling,  but  the 
principle  was  not  broken.  One  of  the  preachers  and 
pastors,  (1848)  broached  doctrines  in  regard  to  the 
Sabbath,  pronouncing  it  unscriptural,  characterizing  the 
popular  observance  of  it  as  superstitious,  and  com 
mending  what  would  commonly  be  called  its  "  dese 
cration,"  by  pursuing  secular  business  and  continuing 
the  ordinary  occupations  of  life,  as  on  other  days.  He 
was  listened  to,  replied  to  :  the.  propriety  of  his  holding 
the  office  of  stated  teacher  was  gravely  disputed  ;  the 
members  of  the  church  voted  unanimously,  with  this  one 
single  exception,  that  the  Sabbath  was  not  a  Jewish  in 
stitution,  but  an  institution  for  all  men,  and  that  its  law 
is  of  universal  and  perpetual  obligation  ;  Mr.  Smith  him 
self  offered  the  resolution  that  notwithstanding  it  is  the 
duty  of  a  church  to  acknowledge  in  each  of  its  members 
the  right  to  be  faithful  to  his  or  her  convictions,  and  to 
teach  and  exhort  as  he  or  she  may  have  ability  or 
opportunity  ;  it  nevertheless,  does  not  follow  that  it  may 
choose  for  its  teacher — least  of  all,  that  it  may  single 
out  for  its  stated  and  leading  teacher — one  who  incul 
cates  doctrines  and  practices  which,  in  its  judgment,  are 
fatal  to  its  prosperity,  and  destructive  of  Christianity. 
Still,  the  "  beloved  pastor  "  was  recognized  as  a  fellow 
Christian,  a  fellow  church  member,  and  confidence,  re- 


RELIGION.  65 

spect  and  love  were  entertained  for  him,  as  before.  The 
church  passed  resolutions  of  confidence  in  —  — ,  and 
desired  him  to  remain  with  them  ;  but  he,  considering 
the  question  to  be  a  vital  one,  tendered  a  final  resigna 
tion,  went  to  New  York,  and  became  clerk  in  a  store. 
In  June,  1849,  ^e  came  to  Peterboro  and  preached  in 
the  former  place.  It  so  happened  that  at  this  time  he 
served  in  an  establishment  in  one  department  of  which 
intoxicating  drinks  were  sold.  This  offence,  in  Mr. 
Smith's  eyes,  was  exceedingly  grave.  He  protested 
against  an  apparent  and  indirect  participation  of  a 
preacher  in  the  demoralizing  traffic.  A  short  and  sharp 
exchange  of  letters  ensued  ;  but  the  controversy  did  not 
invade  the  members  of  the  church.  At  the  end  of  six 
years,  the  founder  of  the  church  was  able  to  give  thanks 
that  with  the  single  exception  of  the  individual  referred 
to,  none,  since  their  identification  with  the  "  Church 
of  Peterboro,"  had  been  guiUy  of  voting  for  anti-aboli 
tionists,  or  of  drinking  intoxicating  liquors,  or  of  con 
tributing  to  the  manufacture  of  them,  or  of  connecting 
themselves  with  stores  or  other  establishments  in  which 
the  traffic  in  intoxicating  drinks  was  carried  on. 

In  the  Church  of  Peterboro  the  ordinances  were  ob 
served — the  Lord's  Supper,  Baptism,  the  preaching  of 
the  gospel,  the  assembling  of  Christians  together,  the 
discipline  of  offending  members,  the  appointment  of 
officials, — not,  however,  as  necessary  distinctions  of  a 
Church  of  Christ,  but  as  "  duties,  which  could  not  be  in 
nocently  omitted  ;  "  duties  "  the  discharge  of  which  is 
among  the  principal  means  of  giving  visibility  to  the 
church,  and  of  shedding  its  light  upon  the  world." 

The  student  of  this  passage  is  forced  to  believe  that 
3* 


66  LIFE   OF  G ERR  IT  SMITH. 

the  "  Church  of  Peterboro  "  owed  its  strength  and  its 
harmony  to  Gerrit  Smith.  But  for  his  dignity  and 
sweetness  of  character,  his  simplicity,  earnestness  and 
sincere  devoutness,  his  mental  resources  and  practical 
wisdom,  the  experiment,  instead  of  lasting  thirty  years, 
would  probably  not  have  endured  as  many  weeks.  Some 
thing  no  doubt,  was  due  to  his  commanding  wealth  and 
social  position.  But  these  might  have  been  disqualifica 
tions  in  a  less  noble  person.  It  is  too  often  forgotten, 
that  wealth  and  social  position  make  enemies  as  well  as 
friends ;  that  one  must  be  himself  unconscious  of  their 
possession,  if  he  would  make  others  unconscious  of  it ; 
and  that  none  but  the  truly  great  because  the  genuinely 
humble  and  humane,  can  reach  that  unconsciousness. 
The  great  man  of  the  village  might  have  formed  a  sect, 
built  a  church,  and  made  himself  a  laughing  stock  by 
his  'pious  impertinence.  The  good  man  of  the  village, 
the  best  man  of  the  village,  the  massiveness  of  his  char 
acter  making  his  bulk  seem  adventitious,  planned  and 
sustained  a  religious  society  on  the  most  radical  Chris 
tian  principles  and  made  himself  respected  and  beloved, 
most  of  all  by  the  sincerest  and  the  lowliest.  The  early 
meetings  of  the  Church  of  Peterboro  were  held  in  a 
room  of  the  hotel.  In  1846,  or  thereabout,  Mr.  Smith 
built  a  plain,  inexpensive  place  of  worship,  where  the 
meetings  were  held  as  long  as  the  church  continued  in 
existence.  It  was  his  expectation  that  this  temporary 
structure  would  be  replaced  by  a  worthier  one  when  his 
principle  should  meet  universal  acceptance,  and  secta 
rian  organizations  should  be  abandoned. 

Thus  in  middle  life,  in  the  heart  of  a  severely  ortho 
dox  community,  himself  educated  in  Calvinistic  beliefs 


RELIGION-.  67 

and  trained  in  Calvinistic  ways,  Gerrit  Smith  clearly  saw 
the  distinction  between  substance  and  form,  spirit  and 
letter.  The  next  step,  to  a  practical  recognition  of  the 
distinction  between  religion  and  theology,  was  unavoid 
able.  In  fact  this  distinction  was  already  reached. 
Theology  was  the  cause  of  sectarianism,  and  therefore, 
indirectly,  the  cause  of  indifference  to  moral  reform. 
The  first  onward  movement  of  the  reformer  brought  him 
in  front  of  the  bristling  doctrines  that  defended  the 
stronghold  of  conventional  behavior.  The  temperance 
advocate  was  confronted  at  the  outset  by  the  recorded 
conduct  of  Jesus  at  the  marriage  feast  in  Cana,  and  was 
forced  to  take  issue  with  the  opinion  that  the  example 
of  the  Christ  was  good  for  all  time.  Being  unwilling  to 
equivocate,  too  clear  minded  to  be  puzzled  or  satisfied 
by  the  chaffer  about  the  probable  composition  of  the 
Saviour's  manufactured  beverage  ;  too  sincere  to  take 
refuge  behind  the  witty  repartee  that  wine  made  from 
water  could  harm  nobody  ;  too  manly  to  keep  conscience 
waiting  in  the  ante-chamber  of  christology,  he  frankly 
said  that  the  action  of  Jesus  on  that  occasion  was  no 
model  for  modern  men  ;  in  a  word  that  Jesus,  however 
incidentally  excusable,  was  humanly  mistaken.  The  re 
port  of  a  speech  made  by  Mr.  Smith,  at  a  meeting  of 
the  New  York  State  Temperance  Society,  at  Albany, 
April,  1836,  puts  into  his  mouth  the  following  language, 
which  is  uncorrected  in  the  scrap  book: 

"  To  account  for  the  apostles'  use  of  liquor  as  a  drink,  on  any 
other  ground  than  the  ignorance  I  have  imputed  to  them,  is  to  make 
them  guilty  of  doing  what  they  must  have  known  it  is  inexpedient 
to  do,  and  of  doing,  therefore,  what,  by  the  proposition  of  our  oppo 
nents,  '  it  is  morally  wrong  to  do.'  If  the  apostles  used  intoxicating 
liquor  as  a  beverage,  they  did  so  simply  because  they  did  not  enjoy 


68  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

the  light  which  has  revealed  to  us  the  uselessness  of  such  a  beverage, 
and  for  us,  therefore,  to  hesitate  to  pronounce  as  immoral  our  use 
of  such  a  liquor  as  a  drink,  because  the  apostles  may  have  made 
such  use  of  it,  is  utterly  unreasonable." 

"  There  is  something  radically  wrong,  either  in  our  religion  or 
our  notion  of  it.  I  have  supposed  that  our  religion  is  not  only  suited 
to  the  apprehensions  of  faith  and  of  our  spiritual  perceptions,  but 
also  responsive  to  reason  and  common  sense.  I  have  supposed  this 
religion  to  be  adapted  to  man's  nature.  But  there  are  not  a  few 
(and  among  them  are  those  who  deny  that  the  use  of  intoxicating 
liquor  as  a  beverage,  and  the  holding  of  immortal,  blood-bought, 
God-like  man  in  slavery  are  morally  wrong,)  who  would  have  us  be 
lieve  that  the  Bible  runs  counter  to  the  plainest  deductions  of  reason 
and  common  sense  ;  for  what  is  plainer  than  that  intoxicating  liquor 
is  useless,  immensely  pernicious,  and  unspeakably  ruinous  as  a  drink, 
and  that  to  use  it  as  a  drink  is  therefore  morally  wrong  ?  And  what 
is  plainer  than  that  slavery  is  an  enormous  and  unequalled  outrage 
on  great,  sacred  human  rights,  against  which  the  very  instincts  of 
our  nature  cry  out  ?  Can  it  be  possible  that  the  Bible  affords  a 
legitimate  retreat  and  hiding  place  for  the  rum-maker,  rum-seller 
and  rum-drinker,  and  for  the  guilt-crimsoned  slaveholder?  It  is 
not  possible.  ..."  When  the  rum  drinker  goes  to  the  Bible  to 
learn  whether  he  may  drink  rum,  and  when  the  slaveholder  goes 
there  to  learn  whether  he  may  hold  his  fellow-men  in  slavery,  they  go 
there  in  ninety-nine  cases  out  of  a  hundred,  to  make  the  Bible  a 
minister  of  sin,  and  to  avail  themselves  of  its  authority  to  continue 
in  their  wickedness." 

In  a  published  letter  on  temperance,  addressed  to 
Edward  C.  Delavan,  three  years  later,  1839,  the  follow 
ing  language  is  used  to  explain  the  conduct  of  Jesus: 

•'  Save  that  He  was  'without  sin/  the  man  Christ  Jesus  was  like 
other  men.  As  a  man  He  differed  from  them  in  holiness  only  ;  not 
in  capacity  and  knowledge.  .  .  .  Jesus  Christ  was  not  a  man 
of  science  ;  the  Bible  is  not  a  book  of  science.  We  are  not  to  go  to 
it  for  scientific  instruction,  for  lessons  in  astronomy  or  mechanics  or 
physiology.  It  requires  us,  however,  under  fearful  penalties  for  dis 
obedience,  to  improve  all  our  opportunities  for  acquiring  knowledge. 
The  Saviour  requires  us  of  this  favored  age,  and  favored  portion  of 
the  world,  to  be  better  astronomers  than  were  He  and  His  cotem- 


RELIGION.  69 

poraries.  .  .  .  The  question  then  which  we  are  to  put  ourselves 
is  not  whether  our  personal  habits  are  in  all  respects  like  the  Sa 
viour's,  but  whether  we  have  responded  to  the  concurrent  and  mutu 
ally  explanatory  teachings  of  the  Bible  and  nature  and  providence. 
.  .  .  It  is  our  duty  to  eat  and  drink  what  the  wisdom  of  our  age 
pronounces  good.  If  science  and  observation  have  settled  the  fact 
that  one  particular  vegetable  is  healthful  and  another  injurious,  this 
conclusion,  and  not  my  palate  or  my  knowledge  of  Jewish  living,  is 
to  govern  my  choice  between  them.  So  too,  if  it  be  settled  what 
drinks  are  and  what  are  not  healthful,  and  this  is  a  point  which  like 
the  other,  is  to  be  settled  by  science  and  observation,  rather  than 
by  recourse  to  the  habits  of  the  Saviour,  I  sin  if  I  make  the  de 
mands  of  the  palate,  however  fortified  they  may  be  by  distinguished 
examples,  of  paramount  authority  to  the  laws  of  health." 

This  common  sense  strikes  at  the  heart  of  authority 
as  surely  as  any  "  philosophy  "  does.  Mr.  Smith  does 
not  discredit  the  deity  of  Christ  or  the  divinity  of  the 
Bible  ;  but  in  limiting  the  supremacy  of  Christ  to  the 
sphere  of  principles  and  in  all  human  respects  judging 
him  by  natural  standards,  he,  for  every  practical  purpose, 
erects  reason  and  conscience  above  him  ;  and  in  making 
the  divinity  of  the  Bible  consist  in  concurrence  with 
natural  feeling,  he  sets  its  supernatural  claims  aside. 
To  adopt  the  Bible  because  it  is  on  one's  own  side,  is  to 
reject  its  authority  as  effectually  as  any  "  infidelity " 
does.  In  either  case  Nature  is  made  the  judge  of 
Revelation. 

Mr.  Smith's  habit  of  preaching  politics  on  Sunday, 
illustrated  the  completeness  of  his  emancipation  from 
traditional  views.  For  the  politics  he  preached  were 
live,  radical  politics,  secular,  practical,  going  down  to  the 
roots  and  touching  all  the  applications  of  principle  ;  and 
he  preached  them  plainly  without  apology,  qualification 
or  reserve.  In  his  opinion  "the  better  the  day  the  bet 
ter  the  deed."  He  wished  to  make  politics  religious, 


TO  LIFE   OF  GERRI7"  SMITH. 

and  religion  political.  Bible  politics  were  as  dear  to  his 
heart  as  bible-temperance  and  bible-abolition  ;  and  all 
alike  occasioned  scandal.  The  question  :  "  Was  Gerrit 
Smith  wrong  in  preaching  politics  on  the  Sabbath  ?"  was 
publicly  discussed  in  Syracuse  and  other  places ;  the  relig 
ious  papers  took  it  up,  and  in  the  tone  of  condemnation 
invariably.  But  he  persevered,  how  boldly  appears  in 
the  following  extract  from  an  announcement,  an  example 
of  many  such. 

LOOK! ! 

According  to  the  public  notice  which  he  gave  several  months  ago, 
GERRIT  SMITH  is,  Providence  permitting,  to  preach  politics  in  the 
town  of  Sullivan,  Sunday.  October  I5th,  1843.  The  friends  of  the 
slave  in  that  town  having  referred  it  to  him  to  designate  the  place  of 
the  meeting,  he  has  concluded  that  Bridgeport  is  the  most  suitable 
place  for  it.  One  of  the  considerations  which  brought  him  to  this 
conclusion,  is  that  he  has  never  yet  plead  the  cause  of  the  slave  in 
the  north  part  of  Sullivan. 

Mr.  Smith,  besides  speaking  several  hours  at  Bridgeport,  must 
travel  twenty-four  miles  to  get  there.  Will  not  the  friends  of  the 
slave  in  every  part  of  Sullivan  go  to  the  pains  of  meeting  him  there  ? 

May  thousands  of  people  come  to  Bridgeport  to  hear  Mr.  Smith's 
kind  of  politics  ;  not  the  kind  that  binds  millions  of  his  countrymen 
in  the  chains  of  slavery,  but  the  Bible  kind,  the  kind  that  requires 
civil  government  to  "  deliver  the  needy  when  he  crieth,  the  poor  also, 
and  him  that  hath  no  helper."  Mr.  Smith  would  like  to  see  on  that 
occasion  some  of  those  sham  ministers,  who  are  afraid  that  they 
would  lose  the  public  favor  and  their  salaries,  if  they  should  preach 
Bible  politics  ;  and  who  are  not  only  guilty  of  conniving  at,  but  even 
of  voting  for  pro-slavery  politics. 

Mr.  Smith  is  to  preach  politics  in  De  Ruyter,  8th  inst ;  in  Leb 
anon,  22d  inst.,  and  in  Georgetown,  29th  instant.  October  3,  1843. 

The  sharpness  of  the  fire  that  was  opened  on  him, 
may  be  judged  in  part  by  the  sharpness  of  his  return 
volleys.  This  is  from  a  letter  written  to  Mr.  Bailey  of 
the  "  Liberty  Press,"  in  August,  1842  : 


RELIGION.  /I 

"  I  presume,  that  in  the  mighty  contest  between  freedom  and 
oppression  that  is  now  going"  on  in  this  county,  there  will  not  be 
found  ten  men  in  all  the  village  of  Hamilton,  of  sufficient  philan 
thropy  and  courage  to  vote  for  the  slave.  If  I  am  told  that  they 
have  notwithstanding,  much  religion,  I  reply  that  it  is  their  religion 
from  which  we  have  most  to  fear.  It  is  their  religion  which  has 
suffocated  their  humanity.  Could  we  substitute  for  that  religion  the 
religion  which  dwells  in  the  pitiful  heart  of  Jesus,  or  could  we  sub 
stitute  for  it  even  blank  infidelity,  the  anti-slavery  cause  would  quickly 
be  crowned  with  triumph  even  in  the  village  of  Hamilton. 

"  How  little  I  thought,  when,  many  years  ago,  I  was  in  the  habit 
of  giving  money  to  this,  that  and  the  other  theological  seminary  and 
college,  that  I  was  thereby  contributing  to  place  the  mightiest  ob 
stacle  in  the  way  of  the  cause  of  liberty  and  religion.  Look  for  in 
stance  at  the  college  where  I  was  educated,  and  to  which  I  once 
loved  to  give  thousands  of  dollars.  In  my  gayest  moments  the 
thought  of  Hamilton  College  brings  sadness  over  me. 

This  is  the  same  college  whose  faculty  humbled  themselves  so 
far  as  to  beg  pardon  of  a  pro-slavery  legislature  for  the  prevalence  of 
anti-slavery  sentiments  amongst  their  students.  And  the  churches 
which  I  have  helped  build,  are  not  a  fe-w  of  them,  the  enemies  of 
the  slave,  and  of  course  of  the  true  religion." 

The  following  is  from  a  letter  addressed  in  the  same 
month  of  the  same  year,  "  To  the  pro-slavery  Ministers 
of  the  County  of  Madison." 

"  My  declaration  that  I  am  willing  to  spend  my  Sabbaths  in  plead 
ing  for  God's  enslaved  poor,  has  proved  an  occasion  for  a  new  and 
rich  display  of  your  pro-slavery  and  pharisaism.  You  are  warning 
the  people  in  your  respective  cages  not  to  hear  me  "  preach  politics  " 
on  the  Sabbath,  that  is,  not  to  hear  me  explain  how  wicked  and 
murderous  is  your  pro-slavery  voting.  .  .  .  You  have  influence 
enough  with  your  trustees  and  deacons  and  elders,  to  get  them  to 
refuse  me  the  use  of  the  churches  under  their  control.  But,  thus 
far,  the  skies  have  favored  us ;  and  beneath  the  grateful  shelter  of 
God-made  trees,  we  have  felt  no  need  of  man-made  houses.  .  . 
The  extent  to  which  you  presume  on  the  ignorance  and  stupidity  of 
the  people  is  amazing.  .  .  .  You  rely  very  much  on  your  sly 
and  sanctimonious  manner  of  slipping  in  your  pro-slavery  votes  to 
exempt  you  from  detection  and  censure.  But  the  people  are  waking 
up  to  your  disgusting  and  abhorrent  wickedness  ;  and  your  success- 


72  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

ful  imposture  is  fast  drawing  to  a  close.  ...  I  entreat  you  then, 
in  the  name  of  truth  and  decency,  that  you  no  more  number  your 
selves  with  the  preachers,  but  with  the  betrayers  of  Jesus  Christ  ; 
no  more  with  the  friends  but  with  the  enemies  of  God  ;  no  more 
with  the  friends  but  with  the  enemies  of  man  ;  until  you  shall 
have  repented  and  have  taken  your  stand  by  the  side  of  those 
who,  in  the  face  of  pro-slavery  politicians  and  pro-slavery  priests, 
and  of  devils,  are  laboring  in  the  strength  of  their  God  and  of  their 
own  good  cause,  to  deliver  the  millions  of  their  enslaved  country 
men." 

This  is  from  a  letter  to  Greene  C.  Bronson — an  open 
printed  letter,  as  all  these  are, — dated  Oct.  18,  1854. 
"  No  man's  religion  is  better  than  his  politics.  His  re 
ligion  is  pure  whose  politics  are  pure  ;  whilst  his  religion 
is  rascally  whose  politics  are  rascally." 

This  is  plain  speaking,  and  the  preaching  abounded 
in  plain  speech.  But  it  would  be  a  mistake  to  suppose 
that  it  was  rude,  coarse  or  violent.  Gerrit  Smith's  ora 
tory  was  persuasive  ;  clear,  forcible,  correct,  but  sweet 
and  reasonable  ;  free  from  logical  entanglements  and 
asperities;  absolutely  free  from  vituperation.  His  deep 
human  feeling  softened  his  argument,  which  never  had 
the  spirit  of  acrimony,  and  never  took  on  the  air  of  tri 
umph.  He  talked,  in  a  dignified,  open,  confiding  way, 
in  the  manner  of  one  so  full  of  his  purpose,  so  deeply  in 
love  with  the  truth,  so  profoundly  impressed  with  the 
importance  of  what  he  was  saying,  so  sure  of  its  power 
to  command  the  assent  of  all  considerate  minds,  that  the 
extreme  boldness  of  his  positions  gave  no  shock  even  to 
sensitive  feelings.  The  nobleness  of  his  presence,  the 
manly  grace  of  his  bearing,  the  kindness  of  his  temper, 
the  melodious  majesty  of  his  voice,  the  frankness  of  his 
concessions,  the  simplicity  of  his  language,  the  directness 
of  his  moral  appeal,  the  burden  of  emotion  that  he  car- 


RELIGION.  73 

ried,  the  practical  drift  of  his  aim,  which  betrayed  no 
sign  of  the  forensic  gladiator,  gave  an  apostolic  character 
to  his  address.  There  was  no  rhetoric  for  the  sake  of 
rhetoric  ;  the  impassioned  bursts  of  eloquence  came  not 
from  the  lips,  but  from  the  heart ;  the  large  stores  of  in 
tellectual  power  were  made  tributary  to  the  soul.  He 
was  no  fanatic,  understanding  by  fanatic,  a  man  of  dark, 
morbid,  lurid,  despotic  and  destructive  temper,  a  hater 
of  evil  rather  than  a  lover  of  good,  a  missionary  of  the 
gospel  of  Fear ; — he  was  an  enthusiast,  hopeful,  benevo 
lent,  sunny,  expansive,  nourishing,  an  ardent  disciple  of 
peace  and  good  will,  a  hearty  believer  in  the  substantial 
rectitude  of  human  nature,  a  prophet  of  the  new  and  bet 
ter  age.  So  far  from  being  a  doctrinaire  was  he,  that  he 
never  formulated  his  opinions,  but  allowed  inconsistent 
thoughts  to  lie  about  in  his  mind  ready  for  use,  and 
seemed  impatient  of  the  philosophy  that  demanded  a 
severe  harmony  among  the  different  elements  of  his 
creed. 

To  such  a  man  theology  was  an  object  of  grave  sus 
picion,  as  interposing  a  dogmatic  barrier  between  the 
human  heart  and  the  divine  principles  it  lived  on,  and 
preventing  the  truth  from  exerting  its  rightful  authority- 
over  mankind.  It  was  not  the  separate  article  in  the 
creed  that  outraged  him  so  much  as  the  dogmatic  char 
acter  of  the  creed  itself.  The  separate  article  might  or 
might  not  be  true  ; — that  was  not  in  question,  or  was 
but  incidentally  in  question  ;  he  left  all  that  to  the  Bible 
interpreter.  The  point  at  issue  was,  whether  any  article 
or  body  of  articles  was  entitled  to  stand  in  the  place  of 
religion  ;  whether  belief  in  them  could  be  considered 
primary  ;  whether  acceptance  of  them  constituted  one  a 
4 


74  LIFE   OF  CERRIT  SMITH. 

religious  man,  or  was  worth  counting  in  the  estimate  of 
a  religious  man  ;  whether  the  interest  in  them  did  not 
rather  detract  from  the  value  of  the  religious  character, 
and  whether  the  stress  laid  upon  them  did  not  hinder 
progress  in  the  religious  life.  His  suspicions  and  his 
assaults  were  directed  against  the  theological,  ecclesias 
tical  and  clerical  spirit,  as  leading  to  sectarianism,  dog 
matism,  assumption,  intolerance,  party  pride  and  moral 
indifference. 

The  hostile  feeling  towards  theology  began  early  and 
increased  steadily  for  many  years  ;  but  its  outbreak  was 
later.  What  point  it  reached  at  last  may  be  inferred 
from  the  headings  of  an  open  letter  to  William  Lloyd 
Garrison,  printed  in  1865. 

THE  THEOLOGIES  THE  GREAT  ENEMIES  OF  RE 
LIGION. 

THE  THEOLOGIES  THE  GREAT  HINDRANCES  TO 
JUSTICE  AND  REFORM. 

THE  THEOLOGIES  THE  GREAT  CURSE  OF  MANKIND. 

The  letter  begins  with  a  strong  statement  of  the  case 
of  Jonathan  Edwards,  "  an  unqualified,  an  unmitigated, 
unrelenting  slaveholder,"  and  asks  how  this  can  be  ex 
plained  of  a  man  so  learned,  deep  and  conscientious. 
The  answer  is  that,  "  his  theology  called  for  or  permitted 
the  relation,  and  with  him  the  claims  were  paramount 
to  all  other  claims."  The  letter  continues: — "But  it 
will  be  asked,  what  shall  we  do  with  religion,  if  we  throw 
away  the  theologies  ?  I  answer  -that  they  never  were 
religion,  nor  any  part  of  it  ;  and  that  they  never  stood 
in  any  other  relation  to  it  than  that  of  its  greatest  hin- 
derance  and  mightiest  enemy.  Were  the  theologies  of 
the  whole  world  cast  aside,  the  religion  of  reason  and 


RELIGION,  75 

nature  would  quickly  bless  the  whole  world.  Were  the 
historical  and  traditional  religion  cast  aside,  and  were 
there  in  its  place  the  religion  of  a  present  consciousness, 
— the  religion  of  the  present  voice  of  God  to  the  soul, 
and  of  the  present  voice  of  the  soul  to  itself, — men 
would  not  need  to  go  from  earth  to  find  heaven." 

Then,  referring  to  Mr.  Garrison's  own  remarkable 
experience,  Mr.  Smith  goes  on  : 

"  I  have  often  thought  of  your  great  change  in  these  things.  You 
were  brought  up  in  a  strict  Calvinistic  theology.  You  have  lost  your 
theology,  but  your  religion  remains.  God  and  His  spirit,  and  Jesus, 
and  prayer,  and  the  Bible  and  the-  law  of  goodness  and  the  hope  of 
immortality  are  certainly  no  less  dear  to  you  than  they  were  when 
you  dwelt  in  your  theological  prison,  and  assumed  that  you  must 
dwell  in  it  all  your  days.  But,  though  you  have  not  lost  your  re 
ligion,  there  is,  judging  from  my  own  experience,  one  thing  you  have 
lost.  This  one  thing  is  the  certainty  of  the  objects  of  your  faith. 
Once  we  could  say  with  the  orthodox :  '  I  know  whom  I  have  be 
lieved,'  etc.  But  now  we  find  ourselves  remitted  to  all  the  conscious 
uncertainty  of  human  reasonings.  Nevertheless,  we  would  not,  if 
we  could,  buy  back  this  lost  certainty.  The  price  would  be  too 
great.  It  would  be  no  less  than  ignoring  the  revelations  of  science 
and  the  laws  of  evidence,  and  turning  our  backs  upon  reason  and 
nature,  and  again  picking  up  and  prizing  the  bundle  of  fictions  and 
fancies  and  follies,  which  our  convictions  had  compelled  us  to  throw 
away.  For  one,  however  great  the  comfort  which  may  proceed 
from  this  certainty,  I  deny  the  right  of  any  man  to  the  comfort,  be 
cause  I  deny  the  right  of  any  man  to  the  certainty.  Such  certainty 
is  born  of  ignorance  and  superstition,  and  only  the  ignorant  and 
superstitious  have  it." 

On  the  2 1st  of  February,  1858,  January  23,  1859, 
and  June  19,  1859,  Mr.  Smith  delivered  discourses  in 
the  Free  Church  of  Peterboro,  which  were  afterwards 
published  in  pamphlet  form,  with  the  title  "  Three 
Discourses  on  the  Religion  of  Reason/'  There  we  find 
a  frank  expression  of  his  views  on  this  matter.  But 


76  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

before  specifying  them,  it  may  be  wise  to  give  his  gen 
eral  idea  of  religion  as  set  down  in  argument  delivered 
at  a  meeting  of  Liberal  Christians  held  in  Canastota, 
Oct.  27,  1869. 

******** 
Nothing  short  of  religion  can  satisfy  the  demands  of  our  being.  But 
is  nature  sufficient  to  teach  and  illustrate  religion  ?  Undoubtedly, 
we  should  find  it  so  if,  instead  of  having  become  so  unnatural,  we 
were  still  natural.  All  that  religion  requires  of  us  is  obedience  to 
the  laws  of  nature.  To  be  perfect  in  this  obedience  is  to  be  perfect 
in  religion.  Nature  reveals  religion  to  us  ;  and  religion,  in  turn,  bids 
us  be  true  to  nature ;  and  exacts  nothing  else  from  us  than  to  be 
natural.  But  these  mistaken  religions,  of  which  we  have  been  speak 
ing,  have  ever  disparaged  nature,  and  ever  made  war  upon  it. 
Some  of  them  fight  it  on  Shaker  planes,  and  some  of  them  fight  it 
on  Mormon  planes.  Some  of  them  crucify  it,  and  some  of  them 
plead  its  sacred  name  for  all  manner  of  licentiousness  and  excess. 
Devotees  of  some  of  these  religions  lacerate  and  macerate  and  mu 
tilate  themselves.  With  most  religionists  fasting  is  regarded  as  a 
high  merit.  Nevertheless,  no  fasting  is  meritorious,  nor  less  than 
positively  sinful  which  brings  harm  to  the  body.  Nature  protests  as 
earnestly  against  wronging  one  as  another  of  the  elements  or  constit 
uents  of  our  being.  There  is  no  part  of  it  that  she  does  not  sacredly 
cherish,  and  she  will  accept  no  plea  for  benefiting  either  the  under 
standing  or  the  heart,  if  the  benefiting  is  to  be  at  the  expense  of  the 
physical  health.  The  religion  which  sings  : 

4i  Nature  must  count  her  gold  but  dross, 
If  she  would  gain  the  heavenly  land," 

fancies  herself  to  have  sprung  from  the  wisdom  of  heaven — never 
theless,  she  is  born  of  the  fanaticisms  of  earth.  Such  a  religion,  in 
its  representing  nature  to  be  the  enemy  of  man,  necessarily  repre 
sents  it  to  be,  also,  the  enemy  of  God.  But  nature,  being  the  work 
of  God  is  (unless  like  man  it  has  fallen  away  from  Him)  the  friend 
of  God,  and  can,  therefore,  be  no  hindrance  to  His  designs  and  pro 
visions  for  the  onward  and  upward  way  of  His  children.  More  than 
all  this,  the  position  that  nature  is  at  war  with  man  involves  the 
absurdity  that  God  is  at  war  with  Himself. 

In  this  connection  let  me  say,  that  people  should  stop  talking 
about  man's  lower  nature.  He  has  no  lower  nature.  His  nature  is 
all  high,  since  whatever  he  does  with  it,  even  eating  or  drinking,  he 


RELIGION:  77 

can  and  should  "do  all  to  the  glory  of  God."  It  is  true  that  men 
forsake  their  high  nature,  and  often  descend  very  low  ;  but  their  de 
partures  from  it  and  their  violations  of  it  are  anti-nature,  and  must 
not  be  confounded  with  nature.  When  Jesus  bids  us  take  up  our 
cross,  he  bids  us  crucify  not  our  nature,  but  only  its  corruptions,  or 
rather  that  which  we  have  put  in  the  place  of  nature.  He  requires 
in  this  nothing  else  than  that  we  return  from  deserting  our  nature 
and  consent  to  abide  in  it.  To  be  born  again  into  that  loving  and 
beautiful  nature  which  we  have  so  widely  and  foolishly  forsaken, 
and  to  get  up  again  to  those  heights  from  whence  our  sins  and,  may 
be,  the  sins  of  our  progenitors  also,  had  carried  us  so  far  downward  ; 
this,  and  this  only  is  the  regeneration  he  calls  for.  But  who  should 
wonder,  if  such  a  new  birth  cannot  be  accomplished  without  the 
help  of  those  blessed  influences,  which  we  would  fain  believe  are 
forever  flowing  from  the  bosom  of  God  throughout  His  universe  ? 

I  have  argued  that  nature  is  the  foundation  of  our  religion.  But 
do  I  give  the  Bible  no  place  in  this  foundation  ?  None  whatever.  And 
is,  then,  the  Bible  of  no  value  ?  It  is  of  incalculable  value.  For, 
notwithstanding  the  things  in  it,  which,  because  they  are  revolting 
to  reason  and  nature,  and,  therefore  to  religion,  should  not  have 
been  put  into  it,  it  is,  beyond  all  comparison,  the  best  of  books. 
Here,  far  more  than  in  all  other  books,  are  the  lessons  that  help  us 
build  up  the  true  religion  on  the  true  foundation.  And  do  I  make 
no  account  of  Jesus  either  in  this  foundation  ?  None  at  all.  Never 
theless,  in  respect  to  the  superstructure  upon  it,  I  gratefully  and 
lovingly  recognize  him  to  be  the  master  builder.  I  often  see  him 
put  by  radical  religionists  into  the  same  category  with  Confucius, 
Socrates,  Plato  and  other  eminent  teachers.  But  he  is  a  teacher  so 
immeasurably  above  all  other  teachers,  that  he  should  never  be 
classed  with  any  of  them.  Never  was  there  other  teacher  so  taught 
of  God.  Never  other  teacher,  whose  moral  and  spiritual  character 
so  far  realizes  our  highest  conceptions  of  God's  moral  and  spiritual 
character.  In  respect  to  such  character,  well  may  it  be  said  of  him 
that  he  is  filled  with  his  Father's  fulness — that  he  is  even  "  God 
manifest  in  the  flesh."  Nevertheless,  preeminent  teacher  though  he 
is,  he  did  not  teach  a  new  religion.  He  but  taught  the  spirit  and 
principles  and  commended  and  urged  the  claims  of  the  one  un 
changeable  and  everlasting  religion  of  nature.  Until  human  nature 
is  changed,  its  religion  cannot  be  changed.  How  emphatically 
Jesus  recognized  the  competency  of  human  nature  to  understand 
the  religion  of  human  nature,  when  he  said  to  the  people  :  "  Yea, 
and  why  even  of  yourselves  judge  ye  not  what  is  right  ?  "  Repeat- 


78  LIFE  OF  GERR1T  SMITH. 

edly,  when  he  would  prove  to  his  disciples  the  loving  and  unlimited 
beneficence  of  God,  he  goes  straight  to  the  teachings  of  nature.  He 
inculcates  upon  them  the  duty  of  being  good  to  all  by  calling  their 
attention  to  some  fact  in  nature,  which  goes  to  prove  that  God  is 
good  to  all ;  such  a  fact,  for  instance,  as  that  sunlight  comes  to  the 
evil  and  the  good,  and  showers  fall  upon  the  just  and  unjust.  And 
it  is  in  connection  with  his  citing  this  proof  in  nature  of  God's  im 
partial  goodness,  that  he  reminds  them  that  such  goodness  on  their 
part  is  one  of  the  ways  for  them  to  become  perfect  even  as  their  Father 
in  heaven  is  perfect.  When,  too,  he  would  relieve  them  of  anxious  care 
for  their  food  and  clothing,  he  again  draws  from  nature  the  lessons 
they  need.  He  bids  them  "  consider  the  ravens  and  the  lilies,"  and 
to  derive  from  God's  feeding  and  clothing  them,  the  irresistible  in 
ference  that  he  has  not  failed  to  put  food  and  clothes  within  the 
reach  of  His  children,  of  His  own  sons  and  daughters,  who  are  so 
much  "  better,"  of  so  much  more  importance,  than  fowls  and 
flowers. 

There  are  other  and  very  beautiful  recognitions  in  the  Bible,  that 
nature  teaches  the  existence  and  character  of  God.  "  The  heavens 
declare  the  glory  of  God  ;  and  the  firmament  showeth  His  handi 
work."  Creation  teaches  "  even  His  eternal  power  and  godhead,  so 
that  they  are  without  excuse,"  who  do  not  know  Him.  "  The  eyes 
of  all  wait  upon  Thee  :  and  Thou  givest  them  their  meat  in  due  sea 
son.  Thou  openest  Thy  hand,  and  satisfiest  the  desire  of  every 
living  thing." 

Miserable  world  has  this  ever  been  because  of  the  conventional 
religions  which  have  ever  prevailed  in  it !  Every  religion  is  conven 
tional,  contemptibly  conventional,  that  overrides  reason  with  au 
thority  and  finds  its  foundation  in  books  or  anything  else  than  nature. 
The  hanging  and  burning  of  innocent  women  charged  with  witch 
craft  ;  the  burning  of  the  intellectual,  pure  and  brave  Servetus,  at 
the  especial  instance  of  the  learned  but  bigoted  Calvin  ;  the  Inquisi 
tion  with  its  three  or  four  hundred  thousand  victims — all  these  came 
from  ignorantly  and  superstitiously  substituting  for  the  study  and 
guidance  of  unerring  nature,  misleading  books  and  traditions — in 
other  phrase,  from  substituting  man's  words  for  God's  words.  The 
slaveholding  religion,  which,  so  long,  ruled  our  land,  was  a  conven 
tional  or  authority  religion— not  a  natural  one.  For  nature  makes 
infinitely  broad  the  difference  between  man  and  beast,  and  abhors  to 
the  last  degree  the  making  merchandise  of  man.  Nature  could 
never  be  twisted  into  the  approval  of  such  a  religion.  Books  and 
traditions  easily  can  be.  So  too,  the  rum  religion  which  now  rules 


RELIGION;  79 

our  land,  drenching  it  with  tears  and  blood,  defies  and  outrages  na 
ture,  instead  of  falling  in  with  it.  Her  bosom  is  exuberant  to  the 
end  that  food  may  not  be  scarce  to  the  mouths  of  the  poor.  But  the 
rum  religion  starves  the  poor.  No  small  share  of  its  professors,  in 
addition  to  casting  their  votes  on  the  side  of  the  dram-shop,  yield  up 
the  products  of  their  fields  to  the  demands  of  that  devourer  and 
murderer.  And  such  professors,  along  with  other  professors,  who 
are  steeped  in  various  other  iniquities,  flatter  themselves  that  they 
are  Christians  ;  and  find,  as  they  believe,  justification  in  their  authori 
tative  books  and  traditions  for  stigmatizing  as  infidels  those  who 
hold  religion  to  be  a  life  rather  than  a  letter,  and  character  instead 
of  creeds  to  be  its  supreme  test. 

An  authority  religion,  heeding  none  of  the  remonstrances  of 
reason  and  closing  its  ears  to  all  pleas  for  mercy ;  its  bigoted  disciples 
with  their  huge  quivers  filled  with  arrows  of  all  manner  of  persecu 
tions  ;  and  its  fanatical  and  frenzied  disciples  striding  over  the  earth, 
with  fire  and  sword — such  is  the  religion  that  has  ever  been  the 
great  scourge  of  mankind.  But  Christendom  is  confident  that  it  will 
never  again  see  such  within  her  borders.  Groundless  confidence  ! 
Only  let  the  progress  of  science  be  arrested,  and  the  lights,  which  it, 
far  more  than  authority  religion,  has  kindled  along  the  upward  way 
of  our  civilization,  become  dim  and,  very  soon,  in  all  the  length  and 
breadth  of  Christendom,  would  the  civil  government  again  become 
subordinate  to  the  ecclesiastical  ;  and,  here  and  there,  inquisitions, 
auto-de-fes,  martyr-stakes,  and  burnings  and  hangings  for  witchcraft 
and  other  fanciful  crimes  would  re-appear.  We  often  hear  it  said 
that  the  church  saves  the  world.  This  would  be  well  said  were  the 
religion  of  the  church  founded  in  nature — but,  as  the  case  stands, 
the  common  sense  and  science  in  the  world  are  needed  to  save  both 
the  world  and  the  church.  The  particular  authority  religion,  which 
would  work  this  sad  change  in  Christendom  to  which  I  have  re 
ferred,  might  be  the  Catholic  or  Presbyterian  or  Methodist  or  some 
other.  That  it  would  be  mainly  accomplished  by  one  of  the  sects, 
can  hardly  be  doubted,  since,  in  the  retrograding  of  science,  and  the 
deepening  darkness  of  ignorance,  one  of  the  sects  would'  be  like  to 
swallow  up  all  the  others.  That  the  present  sectarian  religions  of 
Christendom  have  not  absolute  sway  over  her  is  because,  instead  of 
being  one  with  each  other,  they  are  all  more  or  less  antagonistic  to 
each  other.  Infinite  debtor  to  science  is  Christendom,  if  it  be  only 
that  from  the  freedom  of  opinion,  which  science  has  obtained  for 
her,  so  great  a  multiplication  of  religious  sects  has  resulted.  Admit 
that  this  multiplication  is  in  itself  a  great  evil.  Nevertheless,  it  has 


80  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

protected  her  from  an  immeasurably  greater  evil— from  the  over 
shadowing  despotism  of  some  single,  dominant,  all-absorbing  sect. 
But  however  true  it  is,  that  the  freedom  of  opinion,  begotten  of  sci 
ence,  has  led  to  the  multiplying  of  the  types  and  sects  of  this  au 
thority  or  book  religion,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  such  religion 
and  science  are  the  enemies  of  each  other.  Is  this  mutual  enmity 
denied  ?— and  denied  on  the  ground  that  sectarian  churches  abound 
where  there  is  most  science  ?  The  answer  is  that  such  of  these 
churches  as  are  most  imbued  with  science,  are  the  least  bound  by 
an  authority  religion  and  are  first  to  throw  it  off  entirely.  It  is  not 
possible  that  science  can  be  on  good  terms  with  any  other  religion 
than  that  of  nature  and  reason." 

Mr.  Smith's  conception   of  the  religion  of  Jesus  is 
thus  expressed  in  the  "  Discourses." 

"The  religion  which  Jesus  so  perfectly  illustrated  with  His  lips 
and  life  was  no  other  than  the  religion  of  reason — that  one  and  only 
true  religion  which  is  adapted  to  all  ages  and  to  all  peoples,  and 
which  stands  opposed  to  all  those  fabrications  of  the  cunning,  and 
all  those  superstitions  of  the  credulous,  which  are  called  religion. 
These  fabrications  and  superstitions,  and  in  short,  every  other  re 
ligion  than  that  of  reason,  Jesus  confronted.  No  cabalism  or  mysti 
cism  found  any  favor  with  Him.  The  religion  He  taught  was  so 
obviously  true  as  to  make  its  appeal  to  natural  sense  and  universal 
intuition.  So  simple  was  it  that  He  found  no  occasion  for  sending 
men  to  books  and  priests  to  acquire  an  understanding  of  it.  On  the 
contrary,  He  put  them  upon  their  own  convictions  for  the  solution 
of  its  problems  and  asked  them  :  '  Why  even  of  yourselves  judge  ye 
not  what  is  right  ?  '  He  found  reason  outraged  by  monstrous  claims 
in  the  name  of  religion  ;  and  the  one  work  of  His  ministry — the  one 
work  which,  amid  all  the  storms  of  passion  and  prejudice  and  bigotry 
He  pursued  so  unfalteringly  and  calmly  and  sublimely — was  to  rees 
tablish  the  dominion  of  reason.  He  found  common-sense  reduced 
to  a  ruinous  discount  by  its  concessions  to  religious  tricks  and  fool 
eries  ;  and  He  undertook  to  restore  it  to  par.  Such  was  then  and  is 
now  the  whole  of  the  religion  of  Jesus.  It  is  a  common-sense  re 
ligion.  Wide  as  is  its  realm,  it  is  but  commensurate  with  common- 
sense  and  one  with  it.  To  bring  the  whole  man  and  the  whole  life 
under  the  reign  of  reason  is  its  sole  office.  The  true  religion  is 
nothing  more  or  less  than  a  •  reasonable  service,'  and  wherever  there 
is  the  most  reasonable  man,  there  is  the  most  truly  religious  man. 


RELIGION.  8 1 

We  deny  that  Jesus  made  faith  in  certain  doctrines  essential  to 
salvation,  nor  is  it  true  that  He  made  faith  in  His  literal  self  thus 
essential.  What  He  means  by  faith  in  Himself  is  faith  in  the  Christ 
principle  and  Christ  character.  Hence,  salvation  may  come  to  him 
\vho  has  never  heard  of  Christ.  Cordially  to  believe  in  that  principle 
of  divine  goodness,  and  truly  to  possess  the  character  which  grows 
out  of  this  cordial  belief,  is  the  sufficient,  ay,  and  the  sole  salvation." 

The  special  opinions  held  under  this  general  con 
ception  need  not  be  dwelt  on.  It  will  be  enough  to 
indicate  them  in  the  writer's  own  language. 

"  For  one  I  would  have  the  friends  baptized  with  water  and  in 
the  manner  in  which  He  was.  For  one  I  would  have  them  partake 
of  His  appointed  supper,  and  around  a  table,  and  with  conversation 
as  did  He  and  His  disciples.  For  one,  I  would  have  them  observe  a 
Sabbath,  and  choose  for  it  the  same  day  of  the  week  which  He  and 
His  disciples  did.  Even  in  things  which  are  counted  unessential,  it 
is  safer  and  happier  to  walk  in  His  steps  than  to  depart  from  them." 

BIBLE  MEN. 

"  It  is  charged  that  we  are  not  Bible  men.  I  admit  that  we  are 
not  any  further  than  we  live  according  to  its  great  and  everlasting 
principles.  They  are  Bible  men  whose  lives  are  in  harmony  with 
those  principles  ;  not  they  who  trample  upon  them,  at  the  same  time 
that  they  make  great  merit  of  their  pretended  or  imagined  faith 
in  the  Bible." 

MESSIAH. 

"Jesus  believed  not  only  that  the  Jewish  nation  would  within  a 
few  years  be  overwhelmed  and  scattered,  but  that  '  then  would  His 
kingdom  be  set  up  and  with  power  and  great  glory.'  The  temple, 
Jerusalem,  and  Judea,  did  all  meet  their  fate  before  the  generation 
to  which  Jesus  spoke  had  passed  away.  But  His  kingdom  has  not 
yet  been  set  up,  nor  have  the  signs  appeared  which  were  to  precede 
it.  ...  In  Matthew  xxv.  are  we  not  informed  of  the  reward  of 
those  Jews  who  welcomed  the  ministry  of  Christ  and  of  the  punish 
ment  of  those  Jews  who  rejected  it— especially  of  the  reward  of 
those  who,  during  His  expected  brief  disappearance  from  earth, 
should  honor  His  disciples — even  '  the  least '  of  them — and  the  pun 
ishment  of  those  who,  during  that  brief  period,  should  neglect  those 
disciples — even  'the  least 'of  them?  It  is  true  that  the  word  is 


82  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

translated  '  nations/  but  it  is  also  true  that  •  nations  '  is  not  among 
the  primary  meanings,  and  that  •  multitudes,'  •  companies,'  '  tribes  ' 
are.  In  the  light  of  Matt.  xix.  28,  do  we  not  see  some  evidence 
that  'tribes  '  would  be  a  proper  translation,  and  that  the  judgment 
in  view  was  not  to  be  of  •  all  nations,'  but  only  of  all  the  Jewish 
tribes  ?" 

ATONEMENT. 

••  It  is  said  that  nature  and  the  history  of  man  abound  in  analo 
gies  to  the  atonement.  I  can  not  admit  that  any  such  analogies  are 
to  be  found  in  either.  It  is  true  that  oftentimes  the  guiltless  suffer 
for  the  guilty — now  of  necessity  and  now  of  choice.  But  in  no  case 
is  there  a  transference  of  character  from  one  to  the  other.  The 
guilty  party  remains  no  less  guilty,  and  the  guiltless  party  contracts 
no  guilt  literal  or  constructive.  Remember  too,  that  the  human 
sense  of  justice  revolts  at  visiting  on  the  good  man  the  penalty  due 
to  the  bad  man — a  strong  argument  by  the  way,  that  the  Divine 
sense  does  also." 

HELL. 

"  Eternal  hell  !  No  man  does  and  no  man  can  believe  it.  It  is 
untrue  if  only  because  human  nature  is  incapable  of  believing  it. 
Moreover,  were  such  a  belief  possible,  it  would  be  fatal.  Let  the 
American  people  wake  up  with  it  to-morrow,  and  none  of  them 
•would  go  to  their  fields,  and  none  to  their  shops,  and  none  would 
care  for  their  homes.  All  interest  in  the  things  of  earth  would  be 
dead.  The  whole  nation  would  be  struck  with  paralysis  and  frozen 
with  horror.  Even  the  beginnings  of  such  a  belief  are  too  much  for 
the  safety  of  the  brain  ;  and  every  step  in  that  direction  is  a  step 
towards  the  mad-house.  The  orthodox  preacher  of  an  eternal  hell 
would  himself  go  crazy  did  he  believe  his  own  preaching." 

BIBLE. 

•'The  Bible  is  really  the  best  book  in  the  world ;  though  the 
present  uses  of  it  make  it  practically  the  worst.  All  other  books 
put  together  are  not,  so  much  as  the  Bible  is,  the  occasion  of  ob 
structing  the  progress  of  civilization,  and  of  rilling  the  world  with 
ignorance  and  superstition.  It  is  adapted  as  no  other  book  is,  to 
enrich  the  mind  and  expand  the  soul.  But  misapprehended,  misin 
terpreted,  and  perverted  to  the  extent  it  is,  no  other  book, — nay,  no 
number  of  books — does  so  much  to  darken  the  mind  and  shrivel  the 
soul." 


RELIGION.  83 


DEPRAVITY. 

"  Radical  must  be  the  change  in  our  fallen  and  depraved  nature, 
ere  a  thorough  and  gospel  honesty  can  characterize  us.  I  say  fallen 
nature.  Let  me  remark  that  I  do  not  entertain  the  common  views 
of  this  subject.  Owing  to  ancestral  violations  of  moral  as  well  as 
physical  and  intellectual  laws,  we  inherit  a  constitution  morally  as 
well  as  physically  and  intellectually  impaired.  This  is  all  I  mean 
by  a  fallen  nature,  adding  thereto  what  we  may  ourselves  have 
done  to  degrade  it." 

PRAYER. 

"  The  doctrine  of  Divine  influence  admitted,  there  are  prayers 
which  all  will  see  to  be  reasonable  ;  such  as  are  in  effect  prayers 
for  the  opening  of  the  mind  to  that  influence.  Do  I  pray  for  an  in 
crease  of  my  physical  or  spiritual  health  ?  If  I  pray  intelligently,  it 
is  not  that  God  may  increase  it,  but  that  He  may  influence  me  to  in 
crease  it  by  my  improvement  of  the  means  to  that  end  placed  by  His 
providence  within  my  reach.  In  other  words  it  is  asking  Him  to  d.is- 
pose  me  to  answer  my  own  prayers  ;  and  surely  this  is  not  ignoring 
any  general  laws  with  which  we  are  acquainted ;  nor  is  it  asking 
Him  to  come  into  conflict  with  them.  ...  A  law  is  not  impos 
sible,  which,  the  conditions  precedent  being  supplied,  shall  compel 
even  the  sun  and  moon  to  stand  still  in  answer  to  prayer.  I  confess 
that  it  is  not  for  man  to  limit  the  Divine  possibilities,  nor  to  essay  to 
number  and  comprehend  all  the  laws  of  the  universe.  .  .  I  will 
say  nothing  here  of  '  special  providences  '  except  that,  if  they  do  occur, 
they  must  be  the  result  of  the  unchangeable  and  eternal  laws  of  the 
unchangeable  and  eternal  God." 

MIRACLES. 

"  To  be  frank,  I  suppose  that  all  enlightened  and  broad-minded 
men  do  at  least  doubt  the  truth  of  miracles.  They  have  never  seen 
any,  and  hence  they  are  slow  to  yield  to  even  abounding  testimony 
in  their  behalf.  Had  they  ever  seen  so  much  as  one  miracle,  they 
could  easily  be  brought  to  believe  in  others,  on  the  same  principle 
that,  having  seen  one  city,  men  can  be  persuaded  of  the  existence  of 
others.  Moreover,  it  is  especially  difficult  for  him  to  believe  in  the 
Christian  miracles  who  reflects  that  Christianity  has  done  more  than 
all  things  else  to  dispel  belief  in  miracles." 


84  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 


DEATH. 

"  It  is  not  true  that  death  is  a  curse  ;  nor  that  it  is  so  much  as  a 
calamity.  That  it  is  a  penalty  is  purely  a  theological  fiction.  Were 
the  laws  of  life  and  health  properly  observed,  the  common  age  of 
man,  reaching  probably  to  a  hundred  years,  would  give  ample  time 
for  making  trial  and  reaping  the  enjoyments  of  this  state  of  being. 
He  would  then  feel  death  to  be  seasonable.  Abundantly  welcome 
would  it  be  if  he  had  observed  the  moral  laws  also — it  being  in  his 
power  to  learn  these  as  well  as  the  physical,  by  studying  the  creation 
and  providence  of  God.  Abundantly  welcome,  I  say, — for  then  his 
holy,  happy  life  would  afford  him  the  conscious  preparation  for  a 
succeeding  stage  of  existence.  I  add  that  death  is  necessary  to 
make  room  for  countless  millions  of  human  beings,  who  otherwise 
could  have  no  existence,  and  that  thus  it  is  to  be  credited  with 
swelling  indefinitely  the  sum  of  human  happiness." 

IMMORTALITY. 

"  I  believe  there  are  strong,  I  will  not  say  conclusive,  proofs  in 
nature  that  man  shall  live  again.  One  is  that  God  made  him  in  His 
own  likeness,  He  put  into  him  His  own  spirit,  and  made  him  to  be 
His  immortal  companion  and  co-worker.  Another  proof  is  that 
God  made  him  with  wants  that  this  life  cannot  satisfy.  .  .  I  have 
no  doubts  of  another  life.  I  do  not  believe  that  the  noble  thoughts 
which. William  Goodell  has  uttered,  will  live,  and  he  not  be  permitted 
to  live  along  with  them  ;  .  .  .  I  will  only  add,  under  this  head, 
that  if  the  spiritualists  are  not  deceived,  they  have  discovered  an 
other  and  a  conclusive  natural  evidence  that  man  is  to  Ifre  again." 

Mr.  Smith  was  not  a  spiritualist.  His  wife  was,  and 
in  company  with  her,  he  visited  mediums  and  attended 
circles.  But  the  "  manifestations "  did  not  convince 
him.  It  is  probable  that  his  absorbing  interest  in  hu 
man  affairs  made  him  indifferent  to  the  problem  of  the 
hereafter.  This  he  confessed.  It  is  probable  also,  that 
the  moral  confidence  in  God  that  was  habitual  with 
him,  made  him  incurious  in  regard  to  details  of  evidence. 
Certain  it  is,  that  the  subject  presented  to  his  mind  little 
attraction,  though  his  deep  respect  and  affection  for  his 


RELIGION.  85 

wife  forbade  other  than  playful  criticism  of  it.  His  own 
habitual  insensibility  to  the  claims  of  the  hereafter  was 
confessed  in  the  remark  made  to  a  friend  that  he  had 
not  quite  made  up  his  mind  whether  he  had  a  soul  or 
no.  His  interest  in  character  was  vital  to  the  last,  and 
made  up  for  all  other  interests. 

REVIVALS. 

X 

"We  believe  in  revivals  of  true  religion  and  rejoice  in  them. 
But  we  confess  that  of  revivals  in  general  we  are  very  suspicious. 
And  why  should  we  not  be  ?  It  is  true  that  they  serve  to  fill  up  the 
churches  ;  but  do  they  increase  the  sum  total  of  humanity,  and  holi 
ness  and  happiness  ?  The  revival  of  last  year  was  preeminent  for 
extent  and  commended  character.  But  I  am  yet  to  be  convinced 
that  it  has  proved  a  public  blessing,  through  the  length  and  breadth 
of  our  State.  Is  not  sectarian  and  party  spirit,  that  power  so 
mighty  to  shrivel  and  sink  the  soul,  as  rampant  as  ever?  Was 
there  ever  a  year  in  which  the  use  of  tobacco  increased  faster,  or  in 
which  there  was  a  more  rapid  multiplication  of  dram-shops  ?  In  no 
year  among  the  last  thirty  has  so  little  interest  been  taken  in  the 
cause  of  temperance.  Indeed,  at  the  last  election  its  professed 
friends  seemed  to  delight  in  pouring  contempt  upon  it.  And,  al 
though  there  is  still  much  talk  (part  sincere  and  part  hypocritical, 
and  nearly  all  nonsensical)  against  the  extension  of  slavery,  yet  has 
there  never  been  a  year  since  the  dauntless  young  hero,  William. 
Lloyd  Garrison,  first  summoned  the  nation  to  abolish  it,  in  which 
has  been  evinced  so  little  purpose  to  abolish  it." 

CREEDS. 

"  A  religious  creed  is  proper.  Every  man  should  have  one. 
But  a  church  creed  is  improper.  Fifty  or  a  hundred  people  in  Pe- 
terboro  or  Cazenovia,  however  much  alike  in  views  or  spirit,  should 
no  more  be  required  to  adopt  a  common  religious  creed,  than  to 
shorten  or  stretch  out  their  bodies  to  a  common  length." 

THE  CLERICAL  ORDER. 

*'  Many  clergymen  are  among  the  best  of  men.  Nevertheless 
such  an  order  is  wholly  unauthorized,  and  exceedingly  pernicious. 
Their  assumption  of  an  exclusive  right  to  teach  religion  makes  the 


86  LIFE  OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

teachers  conceited,  dogmatic,  arrogant,  tyrannical ;  and  their  hearers 
la/.y  and  slavish  in  spirit.  .  .  Every  true  Church  of  Christ  is  a 
simple  democracy.  Its  ordinary  assemblies  should  be  mere  con 
ferences,  in  which  all  persons,  male  or  female,  are  to  feel  entirely 
free  to  speak  as  the  spirit  moves  them.  Faith  in  Christ  is  the  war 
rant  to  speak  for  Christ.  .  .  But  in  addition  to  this  means  of 
grace^-and  growth  within  themselves,  the  collective  churches  should 
have  and  should  liberally  support  a  powerful  itinerant  ministry. 
Tne  Pauls  and  Barnabases  of  modern  times  should  travel  among 
the  churches  as  did  the  Pauls  and  Barnabases  of  ancient  times. 
The  obscurest  country  church  should  be  favored  as  often  as  every 
month  or  two  with  a  discourse  from  a  Finney,  a  Beecher,  a  Lucretia 
Mott,  an  Angelina  Weld,  a  Chapin,  a  Parker,  a  Beriah  Green,  an 
Alonzo  Potter,  or  an  Abram  Pryne." 

REASON  AND  RELIGION. 

"  It  is  true  that  the  reason  of  most  men  is  greatly  perverted.  It 
is  true  that  in  innumerable  instances  it  is  reduced  to  little  better 
than  a  compound  of  passion  and  prejudice; — or  to  speak  with  per 
haps  more  philosophical  correctness,  such  a  compound  is  allowed  to 
take  the  place  of  reason.  Nevertheless,  reason,  poor  guide  though 
we  may  make  it,  is  our  only  legitimate  guide.  It  may  lead  us  to 
ruin.  Still  we  are  not  able  to  give  it  up  for  any  other  leader ;  no, 
not  for  church,  nor  pope,  nor  Bible.  If  we  have  debased  and  cor 
rupted  our  reason,  we  alone  are  responsible  for  the  wrong,  and  we 
alone  must  bear  the  loss.  We  cannot  cancel  our  obligations  by  our 
crimes.  .  .  But  is  reason  sufficient  for  all  these  things  ?  It  is. 
Not  however  unless  the  Divine  influence  on  it  be  unceasing.  Man, 
as  much  as  the  planet,  needs  to  be  set  in  motion  and  kept  in  motion 
by  God.  Vain  is  an  enlightened  reason  unless  there  be  also  the 
God-given  spirit  of  submission  to  its  control.  Vain  is  it  that  man 
is  made  with  ability  to  will  and  to  do,  unless  he  allow  his  Maker  to 
work  in  him  to  will  and  to  do." 

It  is  unnecessary  to  multiply  quotations ;  it  is  un 
necessary  to  explain.  Mr.  Smith's  thoughts  are  simply 
expressed  so  that  no  attentive  reader  can  fail  to  compre 
hend  their  drift  and  reach.  The  discourses  are  scarcely 
more  than  notes, — the  comments  of  an  acute,  clear, 
practical  mind,  quite  free  in  its  movement  over  the  spec- 


RELIGION.  87 

ulative  field.  They  are  loosely  put  together  and  not  al 
ways  carefully  reconciled  in  their  parts.  They  make  no 
claim  to  learning,  depth,  critical  accomplishment,  or 
philosophical  exactness.  They  are  certainly  open  to 
criticism  on  several  sides.  Men  like  Beriah  Green  and 
William  Goodell  had  no  difficulty  in  finding  the  weak 
places  in  these  popular  statements.  Mr.  Smith's  method 
was  that  of  common  sense  ;  and  common  sense,  how- 
ever  potent  as  a  guide  through  the  labyrinth  of  practical 
details,  is  at  fault  in  the  region  of  criticism  and  spec 
ulation.  But  the  observations  we  have  quoted  are 
wonderfully  shrewd  ;  here  and  there  they  anticipate 
by  sheer  strength  of  reason,  results  which  criticism 
has  only  recently  obtained,  though  the  writer  does  not 
sufficiently  define  his  terms  for  scientific  purposes,  his 
main  intention  is  so  evident,  his  purpose  is  so  honest, 
his  conclusions  are  so  broad,  that  only  they  who 
are  determined  to  misrepresent  can  fail  to  under 
stand  him. 

There  is  no  good  reason  for  thinking  that  Gerrit 
Smith  ever  abandoned  or  even  to  the  last  modified  his 
theological  opinions,  though  there  may  be  good  rea 
sons  for  thinking  that  he  made  less  account  of  them  in 
his  latter  days.  In  fact,  he  foresaw  that  he  should ; 
and  he  foresaw  that  his  orthodox  opponents  would  take 
advantage  of  this  diminished  interest,  to  declare  that  he 
retracted  his  opinions.  Hence  he  was  mindful  to  say  to 
members  of  his  family  and  others,  that  his  views  were 
the  result  of  honest  inquiry;  and  he  begged  them  to  re 
member  his  words,  that  however,  in  later  life,  as  his  in 
tellect  might  weaken  and  his  feeling  increase,  he  might 
seem  to  abandon  the  beliefs  he  had  promulgated,  they 


88  LIFE  OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

were  nevertheless,  his  serious  and  fixed  convictions,  the 
conclusions  of  his  mind  at  its  strongest. 

It  must,  however,  be  said  that  his  theological  opin 
ions  seem  never  to  have  affected  the  tone  of  his  religious 
feeling  or  spiritual  conviction.  With  him  the  heart 
was  always  uppermost,  though,  as  is  usual  with  men  as 
they  age,  the  heart  increased  in  vigor  whilst  the  intellect 
declined  in  activity.  The  discourses  themselves  contain 
expressions  that  show  that  he  was  substantially,  as  far 
as  feelings  went,  orthodox,  and  during  the  last  ten  years 
of  his  life,  feeling  became  more  and  more  prevailing.  It 
is  quite  possible  that  he  lost  interest  in  theological 
speculations,  even  to  the  extent  of  advising  friends  not 
to  read  his  discourses  of  Reason.  This  would  not  be  at 
all  inconsistent  with  his  entertaining  these  views  and 
promulgating  them.  Nay,  it  may  be  that  some  unwil 
lingness  in  latter  years  to  distribute  his  publications  on 
the  doctrines  of  the  creeds  arose  in  part  from  an  opinion 
of  their  crudeness  and  inadequacy  to  convey  his 
thoughts  in  a  systematic  and  effective  form.  At  all 
events  it  is  certain  from  the  following  facts  that  within  a 
few  months  of  his  death,  his  interest  in  the  cause  of 
reasonable  religion  continued.  He  was  near  seventy 
when  he  wrote  the  following  note  to  the  Boston  "  In 
vestigator,"  the  well  known  organ  of  what  is  called 
"  infidelity." 

Peterboro,  Oct.  26,  1866. 

MR.  J.  P.  MENDUM  : 

Dear  Sir, — Your  paper  has  been  sent  to  me  for  several  months, 
I  now  wish  to  subscribe  for  it.  Enclosed  are  seven  dollars  to  pay 
for  two  years'  subscription. 

I  was  brought  up  to  look  only  at  one  side — my  side.  Hence  I 
entered  upon  my  manhood  a  political  and  a  religious  bigot.  But, 
for  more  than  the  latter  half  of  my  life,  I  have  trained  myself  to  look 


RELIGION.  89 

at  all  sides  and  to  seek  knowledge  from  all  sides.  Hence,  badly  as 
most  people  think  of  your  paper,  I  nevertheless  read  it ;  and  what  is 
more,  I  think  I  read  it  with  profit. 

Respectfully  Yours, 

GERRIT  SMITH. 

Mr.  Smith  was  a  subscriber  to  the  "  Index/'  a  week 
ly  paper  devoted  in  general  to  the  cause  of  religious 
emancipation,  specially  devoted  to  the  complete  separa 
tion  of  religion  from  the  State,  and  opposed  to  "  Chris 
tianity  "  as  a  system  of  intellectual  oppression.  Tn  1873 
—  May  I,  he  wrote  a  remarkable  letter  to  his  kinsman, 
Doctor  Fitzhugh,  of  Livingston  County,  N.  Y.  It  be 
gan  thus  : 

"  You  like  '  The  Index.'  So  do  I.  Its  vigorous  reasonings  and 
its  beautiful  candor  and  fairness  make  it  a  very  attractive  and  useful 
paper.  Its  leading  position,  however, — that  Christianity  is  not  the 
true  and  ultimate  religion  and  that  our  duty  is  to  stand  outside  of  it, 
— I  cannot,  as  yet,  fall  in  with." 

Then  follows  a  restatement  which  it  is  unnecessary 
to  copy,  of  his  vindication  of  Christianity  on  the  ground 
of  its  identity  with  the  religion  of  reason  and  nature. 
In  conclusion  he  says: 

"  Perhaps  I  have  done  wrong  to  '  The  Index.'  For  perhaps  I  have 
unduly  magnified  the  difference  between  it  and  myself.  This  differ 
ence  may  be  wholly  in  our  definitions  of  Christianity.  My  definition 
does  not  include  its  unchristian  mixtures.  But  '  The  Index '  includes 
them  all  in  its  definition  and  holds  Christ's  religion  responsible  for 
them  all.  Were  its  definition  just,  there  would  be  no  ground  to 
complain  of  its  war  upon  Christianity.  But  in  my  view  it  is  exceed 
ingly  though  unintentionally  unjust.  Christianity  is  what  its  con 
structive  principles  are.  It  is  what  these  always  and  everywhere  call 
for, — nothing  more,  nothing  less.  If  they  call  for  any  moral  wrong, 
then  Christianity  is  wrong,  otherwise  not.  These  principles  deter 
mine  its  theoretical  scope  and  practical  character ;  and  it  is  unrea 
sonable  to  hold  it  responsible  for  anything  which  violates  them.  It 


QO  LIFE   OF  C ERR  IT  SMITH. 

is  true  that  Jesus  said  something  more  than  sufficed  to  enunciate 
these  principles, — but  it  was  only  to  illustrate  and  explain  them.  It 
was  certainly  not  to  overthrow  nor  invalidate  them.  In  other 
words  it  is  not  supposable  that  Jesus  should  speak  against  the  tenor 
of  the  religion  He  taught, — against  the  principles  of  His  own 
religion." 

In  1872,  Mr.  Smith  accepted  the  position  of  vice- 
president  of  the  "  Free  Religious  Association,"  which 
was  offered  to  him  as  being  one  of  the  foremost  cham 
pions  in  the  country  of  the  principles  it  asserted.  In 
1871,  he  had  been  a  sympathetic  participant  in  the  dis 
cussions  held  at  a  convention  of  the  association  in  Syra 
cuse.  That  his  interest  was  unabated  in  1873,  appears 
from  the  following  note  addressed  to  the  secretary  of 
the  association  : 

Sept.  30,  1873. 

WILLIAM  J.  POTTER  : 

My  Dear  Sir,  —  I  have  your  esteemed  letter.  The  request  that 
I  preside  over  the  approaching  convention  of  the  Free  Religious  As 
sociation,  does  me  great  honor.  But  I  am  too  old  (76)  and  infirm  to 
serve  in  this  capacity,  and  your  committee  must  therefore  excuse  me. 
Allow  me  to  avail  myself  of  this  occasion  to  say  that  my  confidence 
in  the  association  continues  unabated.  It  cannot  fail  to  be  eminently 
useful  so  long  as  it  shall  continue  to  be  characterized  by  its  candid 
and  earnest  seeking  after  truth.  Moreover  the  promise  "  seek  and 
ye  shall  find  "  is  to  just  this  kind  of  seeking.  Please  use  the  en 
closed  in  defraying  the  expenses  of  the  convention.  With  great 
regard  your  friend,  GERRIT  SMITH. 

It  was  Mr.  Smith's  custom,  when  passing  an  occa 
sional  Sunday  in  New  York,  to  attend  the  religious 
service  of  the  president  of  this  very  "  Free  Religious 
Association." 

Must  we  charge  with  inconsistency  the  man  who 
was  thus  faithful  to  two  interests  so  widely  separated 
in  the  common  mind,  as  those  of  religion  and  reason  ? 


RELIGION.  QI 

It  will  be  more  just  to  say  that  he,  more  vitally  than 
perhaps  any  other  conspicuous  man,  found  their  har 
mony  in  admitting  their  difference.  The  distinction 
between  religion  and  theology  was  not,  thirty  years  ago, 
as  familiar  as  it  is  now.  And  even  now,  they  that  make 
the  distinction  are  seldom  so  entirely  at  home  with-  it 
that  they  preserve  the  freshness  of  their  religious  feeling 
while  allowing  free  play  to  their  understanding.  But 
here  was  a  man  whose  simple,  unaffected  piety  was  an 
example  to  members  of  the  "  evangelical  "  faith,  and 
whose  utter  frankness  of  comment  on  ecclesiastical  in 
stitutions  and  theological  dogmas  sometimes  had  an 
audacious  sound  even  in  the  ears  of  rationalists.  A 
warm,  enthusiastic,  praying  theist,  he  had  none  of  the 
blind  horror  of  atheism  that  led  him  to  denounce  or 
shudder  at  it,  but  in  his  own  little  chapel  could  calmly 
listen  to  its  argument  ; — with  an  ardent  admiration  of 
Jesus  which  allowed  him  to  lavish  on  his  "  Saviour"  the 
most  endearing  and  adoring  epithets,  he  did  not  shrink 
from  the  scholar  who  denied  his  transcendent  attributes, 
or  went  so  far  as  to  connect  him  with  the  less  humane 
aspects  of  his  religion  ; — a  believer  in  Christianity  as 
the  highest  authentication  of  the  moral  law,  he  read  the 
argument  of  those  who  regarded  it  as  an  obstacle  in  the 
way  of  progress  ; — believing  in  a  blessed  immortality 
for  mankind  and  entertaining  a  hope  of  it  that  breaks 
out  in  sweet  words  of  trust  at  every  anniversary  of  a 
dear  one's  death,  he  professed  openly  to  be  supremely 
interested  in  the  concerns  of  the  present  life.  He  had 
a  profound  personal  humility,  a  sense  of  spiritual  need 
that  was  at  times  pathetic,  a  longing  for  interior  peace 
and  perfection  that  was  as  keen  the  last  month  of  his 


92  LIFE  OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

life  as  it  was  at  the  outset  of  his  career, — and  along 
with  it  he  had  a  confidence  in  his  own  sentiments  and 
moral  convictions  that  no  authority  of  state  or  church 
could  shake.  A  rare  combination  of  child  and  hero,  he 
never  failed  to  meet  the  requirements  of  either  charac 
ter,  yet  neither  excluded  or  seemed  to  exclude  the 
other  ;  the  hero  never  forgot  to  be  a  child,  the  child 
was  ready  for  any  heroism.  His  perpetual  sense  of 
responsibility  kept  him  simple,  humble  and  meek.  His 
perpetual  feeling  of  duty  kept  him  braced  for  action. 
The  conviction  that  he  was  "  nothing  "  did  not  impair 
the  conviction  that  he  was  accountable  for  unusual 
trusts.  Nothing  could  be  more  absolutely  free  from 
self-consciousness  than  his  private  journal.  It  contains 
not  a  single  morbid  sentence.  He  was  accused  of  ego 
tism,  perhaps  justly.  But  the  egotism  is  more  than 
justified  that  counteracts  the  disabling  effects  of  an 
unusually  deep  passive  piety,  and  gives  the  requisite 
self-assertion  to  a  nature  that  without  it,  might  easily 
have  lapsed  into  lethargy  or  luxury  of  soul. 

A  Methodist  clergyman,  who  knew  Mr.  Smith  in  his 
declining  months,  and  learned  thus  late  to  know  him  as 
something  very  different  from  the  "  infidel "  he  had 
heard  of — implores  the  writer,  who  had  known  him  and 
about  him  for  twenty  years,  not  to  erect  a  mere  "  literary 
monument  "  to  his  memory,  but  to  do  justice  to  his 
spirit  of  loving  faith.  The  admonition  is  unnecessary. 
The  biographer  could  not,  if  he  would,  build  a  literary 
monument  to  one  who  was  in  no  sense  a  literary  man, 
Gerrit  Smith's  piety  of  thought  and  feeling  was  too  large 
a  part  of  him  to  be  left  out  of  account,  even  by  a  literary 
artist.  But  it  may  be  permitted  the  biographer  to  re- 


RELIGION:  93 

mind  his  uneasy  monitor  that  Gerrit  Smith's  intellect 
never  abandoned  its  post,  and  was  burly  enough  even  at 
the  last  to  deal  a  good  blow  on  the  side  of  human  rea 
son  against  despotism,  whether  enthroned  in  church  or 
bible,  priest  or  clergyman.  In  his  old  age  the  weapon 
he  had  wielded  so  stoutly,  remained  in  its  velvet  sheath. 
But  it  was  not  rusty  or  dull.  Nobody  provoked  the 
gracious  old  man  to  draw  it,  and  his  loving  eyes  greeted 
all  comers  as  friends  with  whom  it  might  be  sweet  to 
hold  communion  for  an  hour.  The  world  now  was  an 
oasis  to  him,  where  he  could  lay  by  his  weapons  and  sit 
on  the  grass  beneath  the  palm,  and  share  the  date  and 
the  water  flask  with  his  "  dearest  foe." 


CHAPTER    IV. 


HUMANITY. 

ON  the  occasion  of  erecting  a  monument  on  the 
grave  of  Myron  Holley,  at  Rochester,  June  13, 
1844,  Mr.  Smith  pronounced  a  touching  eulogy  on  that 
devoted  "  Friend  of  the  Slave,"  which  contained  the 
following  description  of  the  true  philanthropist.  Mr. 
Smith  himself  cannot  better  be  portrayed  than  in  his 
own  language.  It  came  directly  from  the  heart  when 
he  spoke  of  his  friend  ;  he  meant  it ;  he  described  quali 
ties  which  he  honored  sincerely  in  others  and  tried  to 
honor  practically  himself.  Funereal  tributes  are  prover 
bially  extravagant ;  but  in  this  instance  the  eulogiumwas 
no  more  than  adequate  to  the  virtues  of  the  deceased. 
Scarcely  was  it  adequate  to  the  qualities  of  the  speaker 
himself. 

"  The  world  is  in  a  sad  condition,  and  will  continue  to  be,  until 
man,  as  man, — until  man,  for  his  mere  manhood,  shall  be  held  in 
honor.  So  long  as  a  man  must  be  rich,  or  learned,  or  polished,  or  the 
subject  of  some  other  adventitious  attraction,  in  order  to  be  valued  ; 
so  long  will  the  world  abound  in  every  variety  and  depth  of  wrong 
and  wretchedness.  Inasmuch  as  a  very  large  proportion  of  the 
human  family  have  but  their  manhood,  if  that  shall  fail  to  commend 
them,  how  can  the  prospect  of  a  better  condition  ever  open  upon 
them  ?  So  long  as  bare  manhood  is  insufficient  to  elicit  respect,  the 
vast  majority  of  our  fellow  men  will  be  exposed  to  the  clutches  of 
slavery  ;  so  long  will  they  be  regarded  as  fit  tools  for  war,  or,  as 
they  are  contemptuously  called,  •  food  for  powder ; '  and,  so  long 


HUMANITY.  95 

too,  will  deep  ignorance  and  abject  poverty  be  looked  upon  as  their 
appropriate  lot. 

"  Statesmen  and  political  economists  have  their  schemes  for 
getting  rid  of  the  poor  :  but  the  radical  and  only  remedy  is  to  get  rid 
of  poverty  itself ;  or  rather  to  get  rid  of  that  spirit  of  aristocracy 
and  caste,  which  is  the  disease,  of  which  poverty  is  but  a  symptom 
and  a  fruit.  Most  persons  believe,  and  claim  too  that  they  have 
the  Saviour's  authority  for  believing  it,  that,  to  the  end  of  time,  a 
large  portion  of  the  human  family  must,  necessarily,  be  poor.  But, 
poverty  is  no  more  necessary  than  sin  ;  or,  rather,  than  any  other 
sin.  I  say  no  more  necessary  than  any  other  sin  ;  because  to  the 
common  remark  :  •  It  is  no  sin  to  be  poor,'  I  do  not  subscribe.  I  do 
not  say,  that  the  subject  of  poverty  is  always,  or  even  generally  the 
sinner :  but,  I  do  say,  that  his  poverty  argues  the  existence  of  a  sin 
somewhere.  When  the  Saviour  said,  that  there  would  always  be 
poverty,  He  virtually  said,  that  there  would  always  be  sin. 

England  is  groaning  under  the  burden,  the  crushing  burden,  of 
her  multitudinous  poor.  But,  suppose  her  rich  and  proud  ones  were 
to  be  inspired  with  the  love  of  man.  Obeying  the  Saviour  and  the 
impulses  of  their  changed  hearts,  they  would,  at  once,  welcome  to 
their  hospitalities  the  inmates  of  the  alms-houses  and  work-houses, 
the  ragged  beggars  of  the  streets,  and  the  many,  whom  poverty  has 
been  the  chief  agent  in  driving  to  brothels  and  other  dens  of  iniquity. 
What  would  be  the  effect  of  such  a  turning  of  the  hearts  of  those 
rich  and  proud  ones  to  these  poor  and  despised  ones  ?  What  less 
than  that  the  hearts  of  these  poor  and  despised  ones  should  grate 
fully  turn  to  their  benefactors  ?  This  association  of  the  rich  with 
the  poor — of  the  haughty  with  the  humble — would,  indeed,  be  blest 
both  to  them  who  stooped  down  to  it,  and  to  them  who  were 
raised  up  to  it.  On  the  one  hand,  it  would  put  the  idle  and  the 
vicious  poor  on  their  good  behavior  ;  would  stimulate  them  to  a  ca 
reer  of  industry  and  virtue  ;  would  supply  with  new  and  efficient 
motives  for  self-improvement  both  the  honest  and  dishonest  poor, 
whose  self-respect  is  now  withered,  and  whose  energies  are  now 
prostrated  by  the  neglect  and  scorn  which  they  suffer.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  would  teach  those  who  had  proudly  and  disdainfully  forsaken 
the  masses  of  their  fellow  men,  how  much  more  of  true  honor  and 
happiness  there  is  in  the  natural  position  of  standing  by  the  side  of 
their  brother,  than  in  the  unnatural  position  of  standing  upon  him. 

"  Do  for  the  poor  what  you  will — '  though  you  bestow  all  your 
goods  to  feed  the  poor,  and  though  you  give  your  body  to  be  burned  ' 
— all  will  be  vain  unless  you  hold  out  to  them  the  honest  right  hand 


96  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

of  human  brotherhood.  But  that  token  of  your  love  for  them — 
that  recognition  of  their  place  in  the  human  family  and  in  your  hearts 
— would,  as  I  have  already  said,  bring  blessings  to  yourselves,  as 
well  as  to  them.  If,  among  its  happy  consequences,  would  be  the 
disappearance  of  their  poverty,  the  giving  up  of  your  pride  of  riches 
would  be  among  them  also.  You  may  multiply  poor-houses — but  it 
will  avail  nothing.  The  poor-house,  that  cruel  device,  will  still  prove 
itself  to  be  as  useless,  as  it  is  cruel ;  for,  instead  of  arresting  the 
spread  of  poverty,  it  has  the  effect  of  increasing  it,  by  its  heart- 
hardening  influence  on  the  rich,  and  by  its  chilling  influence  on  the 
self-respect,  on  the  hope,  on  the  entire  heart,  of  the  poor.  The 
poor-house,  like  the  American  Colonization  Society,  takes  from  our 
sight,  and,  in  taking  from  our  sight,  takes  from  our  sympathy  also, 
those,  whose  presence  and  association  with  us  are  vitally  needed  for 
their  and  our  mutual  welfare— for  their  and  our  mutual  nourishment 
of  their  and  our  wronged  and  sickly  manhood.  Like  that  society 
also,  it  produces  in  us  a  loathing  of  those  whom  we  should  love  ; 
and  whom  we  can  no  more  afford  to  loathe,  than  they  can  to  be 
loathed.  Let  us  keep  the  poor  with  us.  *  Out  of  sight  out  of  mind,' 
is  an  adage  of  most  emphatic  application,  in  this  case.  Let  us  not 
drive  them  away  from  us.  Let  us  •  hide  not  ourselves  from  our  own 
flesh.'  Let  us  not  be  like  the  statesmen  of  whom  Wordsworth 
speaks,  in  his  Cumberland  Beggar  :  '  who  '  in  their  impatience  of 
the  poor : 

44  have  a  broom  still  ready  in  their  hands 
To  rid  the  world  of  nuisances." 

"  The  rich  and  the  poor  should  dwell  together.  Their  intermixture 
is  for  the  profit  of  both.  It  cannot  fail  to  result  in  a  similarity  of 
their  circumstances,  and  in  the  production  of  a  character  common  to 
both,  and  far  better  than  now  belongs  to  either. 

******** 

"  I  would,  in  this  connection,  advert  to  the  great  radical  mistake 
on  the  subject  of  education.  A  concern  for  the  public  safety,  and, 
I  admit,  a  measure  of  benevolence  also,  are  multiplying  schools  for 
the  enlightenment  of  what  are  called  the  lower  classes.  I  would  not 
speak  disparagingly  of  schools.  Nevertheless,  they  are  an  inferior 
agency  in  the  work  of  education.  The  practically  admitted  equality 
of  all  men,  and  the  free  intercourse  of  all  human  minds  with  all 
human  minds,  and  of  all  human  hearts  with  all  human  hearts,  would 
contribute  to  this  work  unspeakably  more  than  schools  can.  Besides, 
whilst  on  the  one  hand,  schools  have  utterly  failed  to  produce  this 


HUMANITY.  97 

admission  of  equality  and  this  intercourse  ;  this  admission  and  this 
intercourse  would,  on  the  other  hand,  prepare  the  way  for  the  am 
plest  supply  of  schools.  This  object — the  enlightenment  of  the 
lower  classes — cannot  be  effected,  until  the  cord  of  caste  is  cut,  and 
the  lower  classes  are  permitted  to  mingle  freely  with  the  higher;— 
until,  indeed,  all  classes  are  permitted  to  constitute  one  class.  Under 
the  present  arrangements  of  society,  the  masses  must,  necessarily, 
remain  in  ignorance.  Boston  boasts  much  of  her  tree  schools, 
and  of  the  accessibility  of  her  fountains  of  knowledge  to  all  grades 
and  classes  of  her  people.  But,  let  the  barriers,  which  aristocracy 
has  erected  in  that  city,  be  thrown  down,  and  more  would  be  done 
in  five  years,  toward  making  the  diffusion  of  knowledge  and  the 
blessing  of  education  commensurate  with  her  whole  population,  than 
can  be  done  in  five  hundred  years,  if  these  barriers  remain.  I  ad 
mit,  that,  even  in  the  present  state  of  the  world — that,  even  in  the 
present  order,  or  rather  disorder,  of  things — something  is  done,  and 
more  may  be,  to  enlighten,  comfort,  and  bless,  the  ignorant,  the 
poor,  and  the  wretched.  But  the  pride  of  rank  has  built  thick  and 
high  its  division  wall  across  the  human  brotherhood ;  and  to  every 
attempt  for  the  welfare  of  the  many,  it  frowningly  replies  :  "  Hitherto 
shalt  thou  come,  but  no  farther." 

"  And,  not  only  is  aristocracy  an  insuperable  obstacle  to  the  uni 
versality  of  education  ;  but  the  aristocrats  themselves  are,  by  the  very 
exclusiveness  of  their  spirit,  prevented  from  obtaining  a  sound  edu 
cation.  The  legitimate  end  of  education,  or  rather  true  education 
itself,  is  an  increase  of  sympathy  with  God,  come  that  increase  from 
whatever  sources  it  may.  He  is  the  best  educated  man,  who  has 
attained  to  the  deepest  and  most  abiding  sympathy  with  his  Maker. 
But  that  a  man  should  sympathize  with  his  Maker,  and  not  with  the 
human  family,  is  an  impossibility.  "  He  that  loveth  not  his  brother, 
whom  he  hath  seen,  how  can  he  love  God,  whom  he  hath  not  seen  ?  " 
It  is,  without  exception,  true,  that  he  whose  sympathies  are  too 
select  to  embrace  the  whole  human  family,  is  still  unacquainted  with 
the  great  heart  and  real  character  of  God :  and  it  is  also  true,  with 
out  exception,  that  he  who  is  the  subject  of  this  unacquaintance,  is, 
in  the  view  of  such  as  rightly  define  knowledge  and  education,  most 
emphatically  ignorant  &nd  uneducated — and  this  too,  whatever  books 
and  schools  may  have  done  for  him. 

******** 

This  sincere  love  of  man  as  man  was  the  character 
istic  trait  of  Gerrit  Smith.     It  was  founded  on   respect 
5 


98  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

for  human  nature,  faith  in  human  capacity,  confidence 
in  future  progress,  assurance  of  hope  in  the  complete 
destiny  of  the  race.  His  humanity  was  not  born  of 
sentiment  or  natural  feeling,  but  of  religious  principle. 
It  was  not  the  humanity  of  the  philanthropist  who 
makes  a  trade  of  doing  good  to  his  neighbors.  It  was 
not  the  humanity  of  the  Christian  who  regards  believers 
with  approval  and  unbelievers  with  compassion.  It  was 
not  the  humanity  of  the  patriot  who  loves  his  countryman, 
of  the  white  man  who  loves  his  race,  of  the  masculine 
being  who  loves  his  sex.  It  was  love  for  the  human 
creature,  without  regard  to  accidents  of  condition.  The 
customary  form  of  charity — that  of  giving  money  to  the 
needy — was  exercised  by  him  with  more  discretion  than 
is  supposed,  for  he  knew  its  tendency  to  work  inhumanly, 
to  the  degradation  of  those  it  seems  to  help ;  but  it  was 
exercised  on  a  scale  rarely  equalled  in  extent,  probably 
never  equalled  in  the  variety  of  its  objects.  It  was  an 
early  saying  of  his  that  he  meant  to  die  poor.  "  God 
gives  me  money  to  give  away,"  was  his  pithy  remark  at 
the  close  of  his  life,  when  common  sympathy  becomes 
cool,  and  ordinary  purse  strings  become  stiff.  No  one  will 
ever  know  how  much  he  gave  away ;  no  record  of  it  was 
made.  The  tide  of  benefaction  was  perpetually  flowing, 
in  large  streams  or  in  small,  and  must  have  carried 
away  thirty,  forty,  fifty  thousand  dollars  a  year.  The 
daily  applications  from  strangers  often  amounted  to  tens 
of  thousands  of  dollars.  More  than  once  they  reached 
a  hundred  thousand  and  over.  Nor  was  it  dispensed  in 
driblets.  It  is  still  an  open  question  whether  it  be  wiser 
charity  to  build  an  institution  for  the  use  of  generations, 
like  the  Cooper  Union,  or  the  Peabody  Institutes,  or  to 


HUMANITY.  99 

make  happy  the  multitude  of  living  men  and  women, 
and  thus  prepare  a  present  generation  for  better  days. 
Gerrit  Smith  did  both.  His  private  benefactions  were 
boundless.  He  literally  gave  away  fortunes  to  relieve 
immediate  distress.  Old  men  and  women  asked  for 
sustenance  in  their  infirmity.  To  redeem  farms,  to  buy 
unproductive  land,  to  send  children  to  school,  applica 
tions  were  made  from  every  part  of  the  country.  A  girl 
wants  a  piano;  a  boy  wants  money  to  buy  a  watch,  and 
encloses  a  photographic  likeness  of  himself,  to  be  re 
turned,  in  case  the  request  is  declined.  A  woman  so 
licits  the  gift  of  an  alpaca  dress,  and  is  particular  that 
the  trimmings  be  sent  with  it.  The  small  cheques  flew 
about  in  all  directions,  carrying  in  the  aggregate  thou 
sands  of  dollars,  hundreds  of  which  fell  on  sandy  or 
gravelly  soil,  and  produced  nothing.  He  was  reconciled 
to  the  seeming  waste,  for  he  felt  that  it  would  probably 
be  wasted  if  spent  otherwise ;  he  was  sure  it  would  be 
wasted  if  spent  on  selfish  pleasure  or  personal  adorn 
ment,  and  he  thought  the  waste  of  charity  no  worse  than 
the  waste  of  passion.  The  love  was  edifying  if  the  gift 
was  ill  bestowed.  He  did  not  deliberately  pour  his  water 
on  the  sand.  But  permanent  institutions,  too,  bear  wit 
ness  to  the  solid  character  of  his  bounty.  The  public 
subscription  papers  of  his  times  usually  bore  his  name  at 
the  head,  and  for  the  largest  sum.  There  were  $5,000 
to  a  single  war  fund.  The  English  destitute  received  at 
one  time  $1,000,  the  Poles  $1,000,  the  Greeks  as  much  or 
more.  The  sufferers  by  a  fire  at  Canastota  received 
the  next  morning  $1,000.  The  sufferers  by  the  Irish 
famine  were  gladdened  by  a  gift  of  $2,000.  A  thousand 
went  to  the  sufferers  from  the  grasshoppers  in  Kansas 


100  LIFE   OF  G ERR  IT  SMITH. 

and  Nebraska.  The  Cuban  subscriptions  took  $5,000. 
Individuals  in  distress,  anti-slavery  men,  temperance 
reformers,  teachers,  hard  working  ministers  of  whatever 
denomination,  received  sums  all  the  way  from  $500  to 
$50.  In  cases  where  money  was  required  to  vindicate 
a  principle — as  in  the  Chaplin  case — thousands  of  dollars 
were  contributed.  To  keep  slavery  out  of  Kansas  cost 
him  $16,000.  He  helped  on  election  expenses,  main 
tained  papers,  supported  editors  and  their  families,  was 
at  perpetual  charge  for  the  maintenance  of  societies  or 
ganized  for  particular  reforms.  The  free  library  at  Os- 
wego,  an  admirable  institution,  comprising  about  six 
thousand  wisely  selected  .volumes,  with  less  trash  than 
any  public  collection  of  books  we  ever  saw,  owes  its  ex 
istence  to  his  endowment  of  $30,000  in  1853.  Judicious 
management,  seconded  by  the  liberality  of  the  city, 
makes  this  library  a  minister  to  the  higher  intellectual 
culture.  His  own  college,  Hamilton,  received  $20,000; 
Qneida  Institute  thousands  at  a  time ;  Oberlin,  a  pet 
with  him  on  account  of  its  freedom  from  race  and  sex 
prejudice,  was  endowed  with  land  as  well  as  aided  by 
money.  The  central  college  at  McGrawville  appealed  to 
him,  not  in  vain.  The  Normal  School  at  Hampton  ob 
tained  in  response  to  an  appeal  for  help  in  1874,  $2,000. 
Reading  rooms,  libraries,  academies  of  all  degrees  drew 
resources  from  him.  Seminaries  in  Virginia,  Tennessee, 
Georgia,  Vermont,  tasted  his  bounty.  Gen.  R.  E.  Lee's 
Washington  College  was  as  welcome  as  any  to  what  he 
had  to  bestow.  Berea  College  in  Kentucky  received  in 
1874,  $4,720.  Storer  College  at  Harper's  Ferry,  received 
the  same  year,  two  donations  each  of  a  thousand  dol 
lars.  Fisk  University  at  Nashville,  the  Howard  Univer- 


HUMANITY.  IOI 

sity  at  Washington,  drew  handsomely  from  his  stores. 
He  at  one  period,  shortly  before  the  establishment  of 
Cornell  University,  projected  a  great  university  for  the 
State  of  New  York,  for  the  highest  education  of  men 
and  women,  white  and  black,  and  would  have  carried 
his  plan  into  execution  but  for  the  difficulty  of  procuring 
the  superintendent  he  wanted.  His  donation  of  $10,000 
to  the  Colonization  Society — because  he  had  pledged  it, 
though  when  he  paid  the  money  he  had  satisfied  himself 
that  the  Society  was  not  what  he  had  been  led  to  bej 
lieve — was  considered  by  many  abolitionists  a  proceed 
ing  the  chivalrous  honor  whereof  hardly  excused  the 
indiscreet  support  given  to  what  he  now  regarded  as  a 
fraud.  His  charges  for  the  rescue  and  maintenance  of 
fugitives  from  southern  slavery  were  very  heavy ;  in  one 
year  they  amounted  to  $5,000.  To  meet  the  incessant 
casual  calls  that  were  made  on  him,  it  was  a  custom  to 
have  checques  prepared  and  only  requiring  to  be  signed 
and  filled  in  with  the  applicant's  name,  for  various 
amounts.  No  call  of  peculiar  necessity  escaped  his  atten 
tion,  and  his  bounty  was  as  delicate  as  it  was  generous. 
Whole  households  looked  to  him  as  their  preserver  and 
constant  benefactor.  A  unique  example  of  his  benevo 
lence  was  his  donation,  through  committees,  of  a  gen 
erous  sum  of  money,  as  much  as  $30,000,  to  destitute 
old  maids  and  widows  in  every  county  of  the  State. 
The  individual  gift  was  not  great,  $50  to  each,  but  the 
total  was  considerable;  the  humanity  expressed  in  the 
idea  is  chiefly  worth  considering. 

The  primary  source  of  his  wealth  was  land.  He  was 
one  of  the  great  landholders  of  the  country ;  and  yet  he 
was  a  leader  in  the  cause  of  land  reform.  It  was  his 


102  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

belief  that  the  land  should,  no  more  than  the  air  or 
the  light,  be  appropriated  by  individuals,  but  that  each 
man  had  a  right  to  as  much  as  he  needed.  This  faith 
he  openly  professed,  preached  it,  printed  it,  attended 
conventions  held  to  advocate  it.  Unlike  a  living 
"  friend  of  the  working  man,"  who  justifies  the  keeping 
of  his  private  property  on  the  ground  that  he  received 
it  from  another  and  therefore  could  not  call  it  his  own 
to  give  away, — Gerrit  Smith  reasoned  that  he  had  no 
claim  to  keep  what  he  had  not  earned,  and  could  not 
improve.  His  views  of  land  reform  exposed  him  to  ridi 
cule  as  a  visionary,  and  to  obloquy  as  a  hypocrite.  His 
land  titles  were  disputed ;  the  value  of  his  gifts  was 
questioned  ;  he  was  accused  of  making  a  reputation  for 
philanthropy  by  giving  away  worthless  tracts.  A  simple 
narration  of  facts  will  best  refute  these  calumnies.  On 
the  1st  of  August,  1846,  the  following  letter  was  ad 
dressed  to  Rev.  Theodore  S.  Wright,  Rev.  Charles  B. 
Ray,  and  Dr.  J.  McCune  Smith,  as  representative  men 
of  their  people. 

Dear  Friends,  —  For  years  I  have  indulged  the  thought,  that, 
when  I  had  sold  enough  land  to  pay  my  debts,  I  would  give  away 
the  remainder  to  the  poor. 

I  am  an  Agrarian.  I  would  that  every  man  who  desires  a  farm, 
might  have  one  ;  and  I  would,  that  no  man  were  so  regardless  of 
the  needs  and  desires  of  his  brother  men,  as  to  covet  the  possession 
of  more  farms  than  one.  Do  not  understand  that  I  sympathize 
with  lawless,  violent  and  bloody  Agrarianism.  "  My  soul,  come  not 
thou  into  their  secret ;  unto  their  assembly  mine  honor,  be  not  thou 
united." 

I  have,  with  the  Divine  blessing,  been  able  to  make  sales  of  land 
the  present  year,  so  extensive,  as  to  inspire  me  with  confidence,  that 
my  debts,  very  great  as  their  sum  still  is,  will  be  paid,  in  a  few  years. 
It  is  true,  that,  to  make  this  event  more  certain,  I  must  sell  more 
land.  Nevertheless,  I  feel  it  safe  to  make  a  beginning  now,  in  the 


HUMANITY.  103 

work  of  distributing  land.  I  have,  indeed,  heretofore  given  tracts 
of  land  to  public  institutions,  and  a  few  small  parcels  to  individuals  : 
but  I  have  now  to  enter  upon  the  greater  and  better  work  of  making 
large  donations  of  land  to  the  poor. 

I  will,  at  the  present  time  give  away  but  a  part  of  the  land,  which 
I  intend  to  give  away.  It  will,  perhaps,  be  better  not  to  give  away 
the  remainder,  until  my  debts  are  wholly  paid.  1  his  land  was  ac 
cumulated  principally  by  my  father,  the  late  Peter  Smith. 

I  hope  to  be  able  to  make,  in  all,  some  three  thousand  deeds — • 
most  of  them  now,  and  the  remainder  within  two  or  three  years. 
The  deeds  will  generally  convey  from  forty  to  sixty  acres  of  land 
each. 

To  whom  among  the  poor  I  shall  make  these  deeds,  is  a  question 
I  did  not  solve  hastily.  I  needed  no  time  to  conclude,  that,  inasmuch 
as  my  home  and  the  land  are  both  in  this  State,  it  would  be  very  suita 
ble  to  select  my  beneficiaries  from  among  the  people  of  this  State. 
But,  for  a  long  time,  I  was  at  a  loss  to  decide,  whether  to  take  my 
beneficiaries  from  the  meritorious  poor'  generally,  or  from  the 
meritorious  colored  poor  only. 

I  could  not  put  a  bounty  on  color.  I  shrank  from  the  least  ap 
pearance  of  doing  so  :  and  if  I  know  my  heart,  it  was  equally  com 
passionate  toward  such  white  and  black  men  as  are  equal  sufferers. 
In  the  end,  however,  I  concluded  to  confine  my  gifts  to  colored  peo 
ple.  I  had  not  come  to  this  conclusion  had  the  land  I  have  to  give 
away  been  several  times  as  much  as  it  is.  I  had  not  come  to  it, 
were  not  the  colored  people  the  poorest  of  the  poor,  and  the  most 
deeply  wronged  class  of  our  citizens.  That  they  are  so,  is  evident, 
if  only  from  the  fact,  that  the  cruel,  killing.  Heaven-defying  prejudice 
of  which  they  are  the  victims,  has  closed  against  them  the  avenues 
to  riches  and  respectability — to  happiness  and  usefulness.  That 
they  are  so,  is  also  evident  from  the  fact,  that,  whilst  white  men  in 
this  State,  however  destitute  of  property,  are  allowed  to  vote  for 
Civil  Rulers,  every  colored  man  m  it,  who  does  not  own  landed  es 
tate  to  the  value  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  is  excluded  from 
the  exercise  of  this  natural  and  indispensably  protective  right.  I 
confess,  that  this  mean  and  wicked  exclusion  has  had  no  little  effect 
in  producing  my  preference,  in  this  case.  I  confess  too,  that  I  was 
influenced  by  the  consideration,  that  there  is  great  encouragement 
to  improve  the  condition  of  our  free  colored  brethren,  because  that 
every  improvement  in  it  contributes  to  loosen  the  bands  of  the 
enslaved  portion  of  their  outraged  and  afflicted  race. 

And,  now,  will  you  permit  me  to  tax  you  with  no  little  labor— 


IO4 


LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 


the  labor  of  making  out  a  list  of  the  colored  men  in  certain  counties, 
who  shall  receive  a  deed  of  land  from  me  ?  My  only  restrictions 
upon  you  in  making  out  this  list,  is, 

1st.  That  upon  it  there  be  the  name  of  no  person  younger  than 
twenty-one  and  no  person  older  than  sixty. 

2d.  That  there  be  upon  it  the  name  of  no  person  who  is  in 
easy  circumstances  as  to  property ;  and  no  person,  who  is  already 
the  owner  of  land. 

3d.  That  there  be  upon  it  the  name  of  no  drunkard — and  I  had 
almost  added  of  no  person  who  drinks  intoxicating  liquor — since 
to  drink  it,  though  ever  so  moderately,  is  to  be  in  the  way  to 
drunkenness. 

4th.  That  the  total  number  of  names  in  the  list  be  one  thousand 
nine  hundred  and  eighty-five ;  that 

127  thereof  be  the  names  of  the  persons  residing  in  the  county  of  Suffolk. 

215  Queens. 

197  '  •  '  Kings. 

861  New  York. 

32  '  '  Richmond. 

31  444  Rockland. 

115  '  '  Westchester. 

150  Dutchess. 

5  '  '  Sullivan. 

106  •  '  Ulster. 

336  '  '  Orange. 

10  '  '  Putnam. 


I  take  the  liberty  to  suggest,  that  the  true  course,  in  the  case  of 
each  of  the  aforesaid  counties,  will  be  to  have  the  names  of  the  per 
sons  who  are  qualified  to  share  in  my  lands,  or  rather  to  share  in 
the  chance  of  getting  them,  written  on  slips  of  paper — these  slips 
put  in  a  vessel — and  as  many  drawn  therefrom  as  there  are  persons 
in  the  county  to  receive  deeds. 

Could  I  receive  the  list  by  the  first  day  of  next  month  (and  I 
most  earnestly  hope  that  I  can),  I  should  be  able  to  put  a  considera 
ble  share  of  the  deeds  into  your  hands  by  the  first  day  of  the  follow 
ing  month  ;  and,  in  that  case,  the  grantees  might  be  put  in  possession 
of  them  by  the  middle  of  October.  It  may  be  a  year  or  more,  ere 
I  can  supply  all  with  deeds — and  it  is  possible  that  some  may  be 
finally  unsupplied.  A  part  of  the  names — that  is,  an  incomplete  list, 
you  might  perhaps  be  able  to  send  me  in  a  week  or  two. 

Do  not  fail  to  have  the  names  and  places  of  residence  written 
very  legibly.  Should  it  be  so,  that,  from  the  death  of  some  of  the 


HUMANITY.  105 

grantees,  or  from  other  cause  or  causes,  you  cannot  deliver  all  the 
deeds,  you  will,  in  that  case,  promptly  return  me  such  as  are  unde 
livered,  and  recommend  other  persons  as  worthy  of  the  land  de 
scribed  in  them.  The  deeds  will  come  to  the  grantees  clear  of  all 
fees  for  drawing  them,  and  taking  the  acknowledgment  of  their 
execution. 

For  all  this  service  which  I  ask  at  your  hands,  I  can  make  you 
no  other  compensation  than  that  of  thanking  you  for  helping  me  pro 
mote  a  scheme  of  justice  and  benevolence. 

There  is  still  a  balance  of  purchase  money  and  interest  due  to 
the  State  of  New  York,  on  a  large  proportion  of  the  parcels  of 
land.  The  aggregate  is  a  very  large  sum.  But  I  propose  to  begin 
paying  it  within  six  months,  and  I  hope  to  have  it  all  paid  within 
two  years. 

There  is  also  a  great  amount  of  taxes  due  on  them — for  which 
they  will  be  sold  next  year,  or  the  year  after,  if  not  previously  paid. 
I  will  pay  the  taxes  so  far  as  to  prevent  such  sale — and  this  will  be 
in  full  of  all  taxes  up  to  1844  or  1845  exclusive.  I  should  be  grieved^ 
and  have  abundant  reason  to  be,  should  any  of  the  grantees  suffer 
their  parcels  of  land  to  be  sold  for  the  non-payment  of  taxes. 

Among  the  parcels  which  I  give  away,  will  doubtless  be  found 
some  that  are  unfit  for  cultivation.  Most  of  these,  however,  will 
be  more  or  less  valuable  for  timber.  I  hope  that  the  grantees  will 
prize  their  lands  sufficiently  to  guard  them  against  trespassers. 

I  have  a  few  large  tracts  of  land,  which,  because  they  are  either 
very  remote  from  settlements,  or  very  mountainous  and  sterile,  I 
prefer  selling  for  what  they  will  bring,  to  giving  them  away  to  those 
who  need  lands  for  agriculture. 

I  write  to  gentlemen  in  other  parts  of  the  State,  asking  of  them 
services  in  respect  to  other  counties  similar  to  those  which  I  ask 
of  you.  Very  respectfully 

Your  Friend, 

GERRIT  SMITH. 

Peterboro,  September  9,  1846. 

Messrs.  THEODORE  S.  WRIGHT,  CHARLES  B.  RAY,  J.  M'CuNE 
SMITH. 

Dear  Friends  —  I  have  now  made  out  two  thousand  of  the  three 
thousand  deeds  of  land  which,  in  my  letter  to  you  of  the  first  of  Au 
gust  last,  I  proposed  to  give  to  the  colored  men  in  this  State.  A 
large  share  of  them  have  already  been  sent  to  you  and  the  other 


106  LIFE   OF  CERRIT  SMITH. 

committees  charged  with  the  distribution  of  them.  They  are  all 
dated  1st  September,  1846. 

The  gentleman  who  took  my  acknowledgment  of  the  execution 
of  the  deeds,  being  both  a  judge  and  counsellor  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  it  will  be  unnecessary  to  have  certificates  of  the  County  Clerk 
attached  to  them.  This  expense,  and  the  expense  of  recording  such 
certificates,  the  grantees  will  be  saved.  The  recording  of  the  deed 
will  be  but  little,  as  the  form  is  so  very  brief. 

When  I  shall  make  out  the  remaining  one  thousand  deeds,  is  un 
certain.  Perhaps  a  couple  of  years  hence.  Prudence  requires,  that 
I  should  first  pay  off  all,  or  a  great  part,  of  the  large  debt,  (purchase 
money,  interest  and  taxes)  due  on  the  land  I  have  already  given 
away.  The  prospect  is  now  fair  that,  by  the  divine  blessing  on  my 
continued  toils,  I  shall  be  enabled  to  pay  my  debts,  make  out  the 
thousand  deeds,  and  have,  over  and  above  the  needs  of  my  family, 
a  considerable  sum  to  expend  in  purchasing  the  liberty  of  slaves.  I 
wish  you  to  understand,  that  there  is  one  use  of  property  far  more 
delightful  to  my  heart  than  giving  it  away  to  the  poor.  It  is,  ex 
pending  it  in  the  purchase  of  my  fellow-men  from  under  the  yoke  of 
slavery.  I  speak,  not  as  a  stranger  to  this  use  of  property ;  but 
from  oft  repeated  experience  of  its  sweetness.  I  am  utterly  insen 
sible  to  the  force  of  the  arguments — even  though  employed  some 
times  by  abolitionists — against  the  duty  of  purchasing  liberty  for  the 
slave.  Were  three  millions  of  our  own  countrymen  dying  of  the 
cholera,  the  first  and  most  religious  use  of  property  would  be  to 
afford  them  relief.  But  three  millions  of  our  countrymen  are  in  the 
chains  of  slavery ;  and  the  argument  for  conceding  to  them  the  first 
and  holiest  claim  on  our  property,  is  as  much  stronger  than  in  the 
former  case,  as  slavery  is  more  horrible  than  disease  or  death.  I 
am  aware  that  it  is  said,  that  we  endorse  the  usurpation  of  the 
slaveholder,  when  we  purchase  his  slave, — even  though  we  purchase 
him  for  the  sole  purpose  of  freeing  him.  As  well,  however,  may  it 
be  said  that  we  justify  the  murderer  when  we  pay  him  the  sum 
which,  with  his  dagger  at  the  throat  of  his  victim,  he  demands  for 
the  release  of  that  victim. 

I  am  grieved  to  learn,  that  intemperance  has  made  such  havoc 
among  the  colored  people  of  this  State.  I  fear  that,  notwithstand 
ing  all  the  scrutiny  on  this  point  of  my  committees,  there  will  be 
found  to  be,  here  and  there,  a  drunkard  on  the  list  of  names  they 
have  sent  me.  As  a  matter  of  course,  vain,  and  worse  than  vain, 
will  be  my  grant  of  land  to  a  drunkard.  And  now,  my  friends,  may 
1  request  you  to  prepare,  and  send  out  a  circular  among  the  persons 


HUMANITY.  lO/ 

whose  names  the  committees  have  collected?  This  circular  will 
contain  your  best  advice  in  respect  to  the  habits  and  duties  of  the 
grantees.  It  will,  of  course,  inculcate  the  deepest  abhorrence  of 
intoxicating  drinks. 

With  great  regard, 

Your  friend, 

GERRIT  SMITH. 

The  land  alluded  to  in  the  above  letters  was  in 
Franklin,  Essex,  Hamilton,  Fulton,  Oneida,  Delaware, 
Madison  and  Ulster  Counties. 

This  generous  gift  was  received  with  gratitude.  The 
three  men  to  whom  the  letters  were  addressed  pre 
pared  an  address  to  their  people  impressing  upon  their 
minds  the  obligation  that  such  an  act  laid  upon  them 
to  justify  the  donor's  munificence  by  their  own  conduct. 
They  set  forth  in  strong  language  the  nature  of  the  op 
portunity  granted,  reminded  them  of  the  corresponding 
duty  to  accept  it  in  the  spirit  cherished  by  their  bene 
factor,  called  on  them  to  summon  their  manhood — to 
practice  system,  economy,  self-reliance,  mutual  assistance, 
temperance,  and  hailed  the  promise  of  a  new  career 
on  the  continent  for  their  oppressed  and  discouraged 
race.  The  assertion  that  the  lands  were  worthless  was 
indignantly  repelled. 

On  the  1st  of  May,  1849,  the  following  letter  was  ad 
dressed  to  John  Cochran,  Isaac  T.  Hopper,  Daniel  C. 
Eaton,  George  H.  Evans,  and  William  Kemeys  : 

Dear  Sirs  : — I  still  have  village  and  city  property — but  on  the 
large  share  of  it  there  remains  and  must  long  remain,  a  very  great 
debt.  The  debt  due  to  the  State  of  New  York  on  my  other  land 
will,  I  hope,  be  paid  within  the  coming  year.  All,  or  nearly  all 
such  of  this  land  as  shall  then  remain  upon  my  hands,  I  shall  wish 
to  give  away.  There  will  perhaps  be  enough  of  it  to  enable  me  to 
make  gifts  to  a  thousand  persons.  These  persons  must  be  white 


io8 


LIFE   OF  GEKRIT  SMITH. 


inhabitants  of  the  State  of  New  York  ;  must  be  between  the  ages  of 
twenty-one  and  sixty  ;  must  be  virtuous,  landless  and  poor  ;  and 
must  be  entirely  clear  of  the  vice  of  drinking  intoxicating  liquors. 
Moreover  they  must,  in  each  county,  be  taken  from  the  sexes  in 
equal  numbers. 

Along  with  each  gift  of  land  there  will  be  a  gift  of  ten  dollars  in 
money.  Where  the  land  is  worth  removing  to,  and  where  there  is  a 
disposition  to  remove  to  it,  this  money  will  help  defray  the  expense 
of  removal.  In  perhaps  every  case,  it  will  be  sufficient  to  pay  the 
two  or  three  years  taxes  now  due,  and  also  the  taxes  for  a  number 
of  years  to  come. 

Each  county,  except  Madison,  is  to  share  in  the  proposed  gifts, 
and  each  according  to  the  amount  of  its  population.  I  shall  not  be 
blamed  for  making  this  exception,  by  any  who  are  aware  that,  in 
some  two  hundred  and  fifty  instances,  I  have  given  to  the  inhabitants 
of  the  county  of  Madison  either  land,  or  money  to  enable  them  to 
buy  land.  Nor  shall  I  be  blamed  for  distributing  the  thousand  par 
cels  among  white  persons  exclusively,  by  any  who  are  informed  that 
three  thousand  colored  persons  have  received  deeds  of  land  from 
me,  entirely  free  of  all  charge  either  for  the  land,  or  for  the  expense 
of  the  perfected  deeds  thereof.  I  will  remark  here,  that  the  deeds 
of  the  thousand  parcels  will  be  made,  acknowledged  and  prepared 
for  record  at  my  own  expense. 

The  number  of  beneficiaries  in  each  county  will  be  as  follows  : 


Albany 

.  .  V) 

Rensselaer   . 

24. 

Alleghany 

...  16 

Richmond 

10 

Jefferson  

26 

Rockland 

6 

Cattaraugus 

.  .  .        12 

Kings      

,  .      -72 

Saratoga       . 

16 

.             2O 

Lewis         

8 

Schenectady 

v_,ayuga.  

18 

Livingston  .... 

12 

Schoharie 

g 

Monroe    

28 

Seneca 

Chenango  

16 

Montgomery.  .  . 

12 

St.  Lawrence 

26 

Clinton 

12 

New  York  

.     I  IO 

Steuben 

16 

Niagara 

Id. 

Suffolk 

Cortland  

10 

Oneida  

34 

Sullivan  

.     .     6 

Delaware  

14 

Onondaga  

28 

Tioga  

8 

Dutchess        .... 

22 

Ontario  

16 

Tompkins  

14. 

Erie       

,  .  ."\2 

Orange  

20 

Ulster  

18 

Essex         

.     .  .  .  IO 

Orleans  

JO 

\Varren  .  . 

6 

Franklin       .  . 

8 

Oswego  

.  .    22 

\Vashington 

16 

Fulton          

6 

Wayne  

16 

Genesee 

10 

Putnam  

4. 

Westchester 

18 

Greene. 

...  12 

Wyoming  . 

IO 

Yates  ... 

g 

Total.. 

..1000 

The  next  thing  in  this  letter  is  to  say  that  I  have  a  great  favor  to 
ask  of  you.     It  is  that  you  go  to  the  pains  of  selecting  the  beneficia- 


HUMANITY.  IC>9 

ries  in  your  county.     And  that  you  do,  by  the  ist  of  March  next, 
let  me  know  their  names  and  residences. 

To  guard  the  beneficiaries  of  your  county  against  disappointment. 
I  wish  you  would  inform  them  that  most  of  the  land  is  of  inferior 
quality  ;  that  it  is  probable  that  in  some  instances,  it  will  prove  to  be 
unfit  for  farming  ;  in  some  of  little  or  no  value  either  for  farming  or 
timber ;  and  that  it  is  possible  (I  trust  but  barely  possible)  that  my 
title  may  fail.  You  will,  moreover,  inform  them  that  in  the  event  of 
my  not  having  land  enough  to  give  each  of  the  thousand  a  parcel, 
some  of  those  chosen  in  your  county  may  be  left  unsupplied.  You 
are,  however,  authorized  to  say  to  them  that  whoever  of  the  thou 
sand  shall  fail  to  get  a  parcel  of  land  from  me,  shall  get,  instead 
thereof,  forty  dollars  in  money, — and  this  too,  in  addition  to  the  ten 
dollars.  The  fifty  dollars  will  enable  its  possessor  to  buy  forty  acres 
of  government  land.  I  hope  that  it  will  be  expended  in  some  land 
or  other  ; — for  one  of  my  deepest  convictions  is,  that  every  person 
who  can,  should  make  himself  the  acknowledged  owner  of  a  piece 
of  land.  His  doing  so  would  hasten  the  day,  when  the  right  to  the 
soil  shall  be  everywhere  acknowledged  to  be  as  absolute,  universal 
and  equal  as  the  right  to  the  light  and  the  air.  May  that  blessed 
day  come  quickly  ! — for,  until  it  does  come,  our  world  will  be  one  of 
disorder,  oppression,  poverty,  vice : — and,  let  me  add,  it  never  will 
come,  until  the  religion  and  politics,  the  churches  and  governments 
of  the  world  shall  be  so  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  justice  and 
brotherly  love  as  to  call  for  the  coming  of  that  day. 

The  parcel  for  each  beneficiary  will  probably  vary  from  thirty  to 

sixty  acres.     In  a  few  instances  it  may  exceed  sixty  ;  and  in  a  few, 

where  its  value  may  be  far  above  the  average  of  the  parcels,  it  may 

be  less  than  half  of  thirty.     All  the  land  is  in  the  State  of  New  York. 

Respectfully  your  friend, 

GERRIT  SMITH. 

On  January  4th,  1850,  another  letter  on  the  subject 
was  addressed  to  the  same  men. 

Gentlemen  —  I  proposed,  last  spring,  to  make  gifts  to  five  hun 
dred  males  and  five  hundred  females,  inhabitants  of  this  State.  I 
requested  you  to  select  from  the  city  and  county  of  New  York  seventy- 
five  of  each  sex ;  and  I  requested  persons  in  the  other  counties  of 
our  State,  to  select  the  remaining  four  hundred  and  twenty-five  of 
each  sex.  You  kindly  and  promptly  undertook  the  labor,  which  I 


I  10  LIFE  OF  GERR1T  SMITH. 

presumed  to  assign  you  ;  and  I  now  have  the  pleasure  to  receive 
from  you  the  one  hundred  and  fifty  names. 

I  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  it  is  not  best  for  the  females 
to  receive  land  from  me.  What  land  I  have  left,  and  my  title  to 
which  is  unquestionable,  is  with  small  exceptions,  unfit  for  farming. 
My  gifts  to  colored  people  took  all  my  large  tracts  of  farming  land, 
save  one  in  the  county  of  Franklin ;  and  this  can  perhaps,  hardly  be 
called  a  farming  tract.  It  is  of  inferior  soil ;  and  I  cannot  say  that 
it  is  very  valuable  in  any  respect.  Notwithstanding  some  of  the  lots 
abound  in  pine,  the  tract  is  too  far  from  market  to  make  it  very 
desirable  for  its  timber.  The  Boston  and  Ogdensburgh  Railroad, 
however,  passes  within  some  sixteen  or  eighteen  miles  of  it. 

This  tract,  which  contains  nearly  nineteen  thousand  acres,  and 
which  my  deceased  father  had  his  surveyor  divide  into  farm  lots,  I 
conclude  to  give  to  the  five  hundred  men,  each  of  whom  will,  as  I 
formerly  proposed,  receive  ten  dollars  along  with  his  deed. 

The  five  hundred  females  will  each  receive  fifty  dollars.  This 
sum  is  sufficient  to  purchase  forty  acres  of  Government  land.  I  hope 
that  each  one  who  does  not  so  expend  it,  will  expend  it  in  the  pur 
chase  of  other  lands.  To  you,  who  know  my  heart  on  this  subject, 
I  need  not  say  how  deeply  I  feel  that  every  person  needs  to  be  the 
admitted  owner  of  a  parcel  of  land.  This  every  person  should  be, 
without  having  to  pay  for  it.  But  if  a  free  ownership  be  withheld, 
still  let  there  be  an  ownership  whenever  it  can  be  bought,  if  for  no 
other  reason  than  that  the  more  who  are  the  admitted  owners  of 
land,  the  sooner  will  that  ownership  be  acknowledged  to  be  a  nat 
ural,  universal  and  inalienable  right.  I  would  have  every  person 
get  a  parcel  of  land  who  can  get  it. 

Alas,  that  good  men  should  be  so  slow  to  see  that  the  acknowl 
edged  right  of  every  generation  and  the  whole  of  every  generation, 
to  the  use  of  the  earth,  as  well  as  to  the  use  of  the  sea,  the  light  and 
the  air,  is  necessarily  preliminary  to  that  state  of  universal  comfort 
and  happiness  and  holiness  for  which  good  men  labor  and  pray  !  So 
vitally  important,  so  indispensable  is  this  right,  in  my  view,  that  no 
person  who  rejects  it  can  get  my  vote  to  be  a  civil  ruler  or  a  moral 
instructor.  How  long  will  the  people  consent  to  be  put  off  with 
bribes  and  toys  and  deceptions  in  the  place  of  the  acknowledgment 
of  their  right  ?  The  governments  of  the  earth  all  refuse  to  acknowl 
edge  the  right  of  the  people  to  the  soil.  And  yet  the  people,  stripped 
though  they  are  of  this  greatest  right,  and  of  this  only  effectual  se 
curity  for  all  their  rights,  sustain  and  honor  these  governments  ! 
And  this  they  do,  because  their  governments  help  them  pay  their 


HUMANITY.  Ill 

parsons  or  their  school-masters,  or  bribe  them  in  some  other  way. 
Only  let  the  governments  of  the  earth  give  back  to  their  subjects 
the  lights  of  which  they  are  robbed  ;  and  their  subjects  will  lack 
neither  the  ability  nor  the  disposition  to  take  the  whole  care  and 
bear  the  whole  burden  of  their  schools  and  churches. 

I  send  you  herewith  seventy-five  deeds  of  land,  and  seven  hun 
dred  and  fifty  dollars  for  the  seventy-five  males  you  have  selected, 
and  three  thousand  seven  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  for  the  seventy- 
five  females  you  have  selected.  Should  the  grantees  wish  to  make 
inquiries  respecting  the  land,  I  hope  they  will  make  them  of  you. 
I  cannot  even  read,  much  less  can  I  answer,  all  the  letters  which  I 
receive. 

To  the  committees  in  the  other  counties  I  will  send  deeds  and 
ten  dollars  with  each  as  fast  as  I  receive  from  them  the  names  of 
the  males  whom  they  select.  My  gifts  to  the  females  whom  they 
select,  I  shall  not  be  able  to  complete  in  a  less  space  of  time  than  a 
year  or  eighteen  months,  as  my  first  duty  with  the  moneys  I  receive 
is  to  employ  a  large  share  of  them  in  continuing  to  reduce  the  great 
amount  of  debt  which  I  still  owe.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  I 
shall,  every  month,  pay  the  females  of  one  or  more  counties. 
With  great  regard,  your  friend, 

/     GERRIT  SMITH. 

Before  taking  his  seat  in  Congress,  Gerrit  Smith,  as 
if  he  would  go  unincumbered  into  the  national  arena, 
issued  the  following  circular: 

Peterboro,  March  22d,  1853. 
TO 

Dear  Sir — Ere  leaving  home  to  take  my  seat  in  Congress,  I 
should  like  to  dispose  of  all  my  remaining  lands.  They  are  scattered 
through  some  twenty  counties  of  the  State  of  New  York.  Very  few 
of  them  are  in  the  western,  and  none  in  the  south-eastern  part  of 
the  State. 

These  lands  are  generally  of  inferior  quality,  and  are  worth  more 
for  fuel  and  lumber  than  for  farming.  I  would  sell  them  cheap 
rather  than  retain  them.  Descriptions  of  them  can  be  obtained  at 
my  office. 

I  expect  to  be  at  home  pretty  constantly  for  the  present.  Such 
of  these  lands  as  I  may  not  be  able  to  sell  previously,  I  will,  should 
the  collection  of  people  authorize  it,  offer  at  auction  at  my  office, 
Wednesday,  ist  day  of  June  next. 


112  LIFE   OF  G ERR  IT  SMITH. 

In  case  of  the  sale  of  any  parcel  of  land  whether  on  said  ist  day 
of  June  or  before,  for  not  more  than  fifty  dollars,  all  the  purchase 
money  must  be  paid  in  hand.  Where  the  sale  is  for  more  than  fifty 
dollars  and  not  less  than  one  hundred  dollars,  one-half  must  be  paid 
in  hand.  Where  for  one  hundred  dollars  and  over,  one  quarter. 
For  the  balance  the  purchaser  may  have  a  long  credit. 

I  have  still  a  little  property  in  the  cities  of  Schenectady  and 
Albany,  and  much  in  the  city  of  Osvvego.  I  should  be  glad  to 
sell  it  all. 

GERRIT  SMITH. 

The  experiment  of  colonizing  the  blacks  in  northern 
New  York  was  not  successful.  Mr.  Smith  candidly  ad 
mitted  that  it  was  not.  The  failure  was  due  in  part,  no 
doubt,  to  the  intractability  of  the  land  and  the  harsh 
ness  of  the  climate.  Much  of  the  territory  given  to  the 
blacks,  and  to  the  whites  as  well,  was  unsuited  to  agri 
culture,  as  Mr.  Smith  frankly  stated.  He  never  con 
cealed  the  true  character  of  the  acres  he  gave  away  ;  he 
never  took  or  asked  praise  for  giving  away  good  land, 
when  he  gave  away  bad.  The  failure  of  the  plan  was  in 
some  measure  owing  to  the  infelicity  of  the  soil.  But  in 
a  greater  measure  it  was  owing  to  the  inefficiency  of 
those  that  accepted  it.  The  disabling  infirmities  and 
vices  of  the  black  people  Mr.  Smith  had  the  courage  to 
admit.  He  had  little  hope  of  them  as  they  were ;  on 
the  best  land  they  would  have  done  nothing.  They  had 
none  of  the  qualities  that  make  the  farmer.  He  knew 
they  had  not.  Messrs.  Wright  Ray  and  McCune  Smith 
knew  they  had  not.  Their  stirring  appeal  was  ineffectual. 
Gerrit  Smith's  heroic  hope  that  opportunity  and  necessity 
would  rouse  the  blacks  to  manhood  was  illusive.  The 
beneficiaries  could  not  respond  to  the  call  of  the  bene 
factor.  Had  the  land  been  the  richest  in  the  State  they 
would  not  have  responded,  for  they  could  not ;  it  was 


HUMANITY.  H3 

not  in  them.  Is  it  fair  to  lay  the  blame  upon  him? 
Would  it  not  be  fairer  to  commend  the  practical  wisdom 
that  squandered  low  priced  instead  of  high  priced  lands 
in  a  venture  so  uncertain?  The  experience  of  civiliza 
tion  proves  that  manliness  thrives  on  hardship.  If  the 
hardship  is  shrunk  from  or  shirked,  the  inference  is  that 
the  elements  of  manhood  are  wanting.  It  does  not  ap 
pear  that  the  blacks  ever  accused  their  benefactor  of 
gaining  the  reputation  of  philanthropy  at  their  expense; 
but  the  whites  did.  The  candid  student  of  the  subject 
will  probably  conclude  that  the  fault  lay,  not  so  much 
in  the  land  or  its  donor,  as  in  the  inefficiency  of  the  peo 
ple  who  desired  a  Capua,  and  rebelled  when  they  found 
a  New  England.  The  man  who  had  most  cause  for  dis 
couragement  was  Gerrit  Smith  himself.  Many  men, 
good  men  too,  would  have  abandoned  all  efforts  at  ele 
vating  the  lowly  of  his  race,  after  so  disastrous  a  result 
of  so  courageous  an  attempt. 

It  is  needless  to  say,  now,  that  Gerrit  Smith's  hu 
manity  made  no  account  of  the  distinctions  of  race.  In 
1836  he  wrote  to  his  wife :  "  I  hope  you  will  have  grace 
to  set  your  face  like  a  flint  against  the  accursed  spirit  of 
aristocracy.  I  hope  our  dear  Lilly,  if  she  has  one  par 
ticle  of  that  wicked  thing  in  her  heart  called  prejudice 
against  people  of  color,  will  make  haste  to  get  rid  of  it. 
This  prejudice  is  a  quarrel  with  God."  To  many  he  is 
known  chiefly  by  his  devotion  to  the  Africans,  they 
being,  in  his  regard,  the  most  inhumanly  treated.  His 
consideration  of  them  in  gifts  of  land  and  money  attests 
the  warmth  of  his  interest.  It  was  at  his  instance  that 
Peterboro  became  one  of  the  chief  stations  of  the  "  under 
ground  railroad,"  as  the  arrangement  was  called  by 


114  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

\vhich  escaped  slaves  were  passed  on  through  the 
northern  States  to  Canada;  and  his  open  invitation  was 
heard  and  caught  at  with  eagerness.  It  was  not  so 
much  a  ^velcome  that  he  gave  as  a  bidding.  He  called 
the  slaves  to  come  out  of  their  Egypt ;  advised  them  to 
repeat  the  old  device  of  plundering  their  masters  of  the 
means  of  escape,  to  take  what  they  needed,  food,  money, 
horses,  that  their  flight  might  be  swift  and  their  rescue 
sure.  "  The  doctrine  that  I  am  to  look  on  every  other 
man  as  my  brother, — ay,  as  another  self — is  a  doctrine 
which  bids  me  peril  and  suffer  and  inflict  as  much  for  his 
sake,  as  I  would  have  him  peril,  and  suffer  and  inflict 
for  it.  It  may  not  be  his  duty  to  lose  life  or  take  life  in 
order  to  exempt  himself  from  slavery.  But  if  he  is  au 
thorized  to  go  to  these  extremities,  it  is  absurd  to  say 
that  I  sin  if  I  carry  my  help  of  him  to  the  like  extremi 
ties."  The  station  at  Peterboro  was  usually  full.  In 
times  of  unusual  excitement,  like  those  immediately 
succeeding  the  "  Fugitive  Slave  Bill,"  it  was  no  uncom 
mon  thing  to  see  negroes  in  the  street  asking  the  way 
to  Mr.  Smith's  house.  The  busy  man  left  his  affairs 
and  bestowed  immediate  care  on  his  guests ;  fed  them, 
clothed  them,  gave  them  money  for  necessary  expenses, 
sent  them  in  his  own  wagon  to  Oswego,  and  saw  them 
in  safety  on  their  way  northward.  He  was  immensely 
cheated,  of  course ;  but  he  took  the  cheating  patiently, 
saying  that  he  would  rather  be  swindled  twenty  times 
than  miss  a  single  chance  of  delivering  a  fellow-man  from 
slavery. 

It  was  wonderful  what  pains  he  would  be  at,  what 
trouble  he  would  take,  what  risks  he  would  incur,  what 
money  he  would  spend,  to  compass  this  object.  Hear- 


HUMANITY.  115 

ing  that  a  southern  slaveholder,  dying,  had  declared  his 
slaves,  fifty  in  number,  emancipated,  on  condition  of 
their  being  taken  to  a  northern  state  and  provided  for, 
he  wrote  instantly,  directing  that  they  be  sent  to  him. 
Ten  only  reached  Peterboro ;  the  rest  dropped  off  by 
the  way,  some  tired,  some  disheartened,  some  deterred 
by  the  misstatements  of  ill  wishers,  who  represented  Mr. 
Smith's  promises  as  deceptive.  The  ten  strangers,  who 
persevered  to  the  end,  being  in  need  of  no  further  trans 
portation,  were  quartered  in  the  old  ancestral  house, 
then  unaltered  and  unoccupied.  The  descendants  of 
these  negroes  still  live  in  Peterboro.  Mrs.  Smith  was 
born  in  Maryland,  and  there  a  favorite  slave  remained 
when  the  family  removed  to  New  York.  The  poor  crea 
ture  was  sold  and  resold  till  the  trace  of  her  was  nearly 
lost.  By  the  help  of  a  special  agent  she  was  found,  pur 
chased,  brought  to  Peterboro,  and  there  cared  for  during 
the  remainder  of  her  life. 

Dr.  Alexander  Ross,  of  Toronto,  whose  remarkable 
exploits  in  "running  off"  slaves  between  1855  and  1865, 
caused  such  consternation  in  the  Southern  States,  was 
in  communication  with  Gerrit  Smith  from  first  to  last, 
was  aided  by  him  in  his  preparations  with  information 
and  counsel,  and  had  a  close  understanding  with  him  in 
regard  to  his  course  of  procedure.  Both  these  men 
made  the  rescue  of  slaves  a  personal  matter. 

Here  is  an  incident  that  shows  the  quality  of  Mr. 
Smith's  concern.  A  slave  called  Anderson,  taking  the 
advice  of  the  northern  philanthropist,  ran  away  from  his 
bondage  in  Kentucky  and  escaped  to  Ohio.  The  mas 
ter  pursued,  overtook  and  seized  the  fugitive  ;  there 
was  a  struggle  ;  the  slave  killed  the  master  and  fled  to 


Il6  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

Canada.  Some  months  afterwards,  friends  of  the  slain 
man,  learning  that  Anderson  was  in  Toronto,  induced 
the  Governor  of  Kentucky  to  make  a  requisition  on  the 
provincial  Governor  of  Canada  to  deliver  the  criminal, 
under  the  provisions  of  the  Ashburton  Treaty  which 
•was  signed  at  Washington,  in  1842.  The  order  was 
taken  to  Canada,  and  the  writ  was  served.  Anderson 
was  not  unknown  in  Toronto.  He  had  behaved  well, 
and  had  made  friends.  The  circumstances  of  his  being 
a  fugitive  from  slavery  interested  many  in  his  fate. 
Fortunately  there  was  telegraphic  communication  with 
the  States.  A  message  sent  to  Mr.  Smith  was  carried 
by  swift  express  to  Peterboro.  Smith  remembered  the 
man  and  the  incidents  of  his  escape.  He  left  his  office 
at  once,  ordered  his  horses  and  was  on  his  way  to  To 
ronto  in  less  than  two  hours  from  the  moment  of  Ander 
son's  arrest.  At  Canastota,  nine  miles  from  home,  he 
sent  a  message  bidding  the  friends  of  the  fugitive  block 
proceedings  till  he  arrived.  At  Buffalo  there  was  no 
time  to  stop  ;  he  pushed  on  and  reached  Toronto  in 
season  for  the  opening  of  the  court.  There  he  offered 
himself  as  counsel  for  Anderson.  The  case  being  pre 
sented,  the  unprofessional  advocate,  in  a  speech,  une- 
laborated  and  unpremeditated,  except  on  the  hurried 
journey,  but  of  great  power  and  cogency,  made  his  plea. 
The  incidental  points  pressed  were  these: — I.  That  An 
derson,  in  killing  his  pursuer  had  been  guilty  of  no  mur 
der,  but  at  the  worst  of  justifiable  homicide.  He  had 
obeyed  the  law  of  nature,  the  supreme  law,  in  slaying 
one  who  would  have  taken  from  him  what  was  dearer 
than  life  ;  the  alleged  crime  was  therefore  no  crime, 
rather  it  was  a  manly,  heroic  deed,  entitling  the  man  to 


HUMANITY.  117 

praise  and  not  to  punishment.  2.  The  deed  was  done 
in  Ohio,  not  in  Kentucky,  and  as  Ohio  had  made  no 
requisition,  the  proceedings  even  though  the  man  could 
be  fairly  charged  with  murder,  were  void.  3.  The  ques 
tion  whether  Anderson  should  or  should  not  be  given 
up  was  one  for  the  English  law  to  decide.  The  case 
must  be  tried  by  English  law,  which  made  no  recognition 
of  slavery.  The  main  argument  was,  however,  addressed 
to  the  point  that  neither  the  Ashburton  Treaty  nor  the 
United  States  Constitution  required  the  surrender  of 
fugitive  slaves,  but  that  both  demanded  their  freedom. 
Still  even  this  argument,  full  and  cogent  as  it  was,  owed 
its  compelling  power  to  the  devotion  to  humanity  which 
inspired  the  orator,  making  his  very  stature  seem  gigan 
tic.  The  advocate  gained  his  cause  triumphantly. 
The  speech  made  a  prodigious  impression,  coming  as  it 
did  from  a  glowing  heart,  a  mind  of  great  fertility,  and 
fortified  by  a  touching  power  of  eloquence.  It  was  print 
ed,  and  circalated  over  all  the  United  States.  It  was 
commented  on  in  the  London  Times,  which  applauded 
the  action  of  the  provincial  tribunal,  declared  that  the 
law  of  England  fully  sustained  the  judgment,  and  char 
acterized  Gerrit  Smith  as  the  Robert  Peel  of  America. 

Gerrit  Smith  was  in  attendance  on  a  convention  of 
the  Liberty  Party  at  Syracuse,  Oct.  I,  1851,  when  the 
alarm  bell  told  the  Vigilance  Committee  that  a  black 
man  had  been  seized  under  the  tc  Fugitive  Slave  Law." 
Rev.  Samuel  J.  May  was  rising  from  the  dinner  table 
when  the  news  came,  and  by  making  haste  reached  the 
court  house  where  a  crowd  had  already  assembled  to 
watch  the  proceedings.  The  excitement  was  gathering. 
The  prisoner,  Jerry  McHenry,  manacled  and  guarded, 


Il8  LIFE   OF  G ERR  IT  SMITH. 

was  being  put  through  "the  summary  process"  peculiar 
to  those  occasions,  and  his  friends  were  hurriedly  taking 
counsel  together  for  his  deliverance.  Suddenly  the  lad, 
being  loosely  watched,  slipped  from  his  captors  and  ran 
for  his  life.  His  pursuers  were  the  fleeter  ;  they  over 
took  him,  mastered  him  after  a  short  but  furious  strug 
gle,  flung  him  into  a  wagon  and  drove  him,  pinioned  to 
the  floor  of  the  cart  by  the  weight  of  two  policemen, 
back  to  the  jail.  It  was  now  evening  and  the  trembling 
fugitive,  hearing  the  uproar  without,  thought  his  hour 
had  come.  And  so  it  had, — the  hour  of  his  deliverance. 
Gerrit  Smith  was  on  the  field,  animating  and  impelling. 
Sturdy  arms  drove  a  battering-ram  against  the  prison 
door  ;  it  yielded  ;  Jerry  was  dragged  forth,  put  into  a 
light  carriage  drawn  by  a  fleet  span  of  horses  ;  money 
was  thrust  into  his  hand  ;  a  great  voice  bade  him  to 
keep  clear  of  the  States,  and  he  was  before  long  safe  in 
Canada.  The  next  morning,  before  the  convention, 
Gerrit  Smith  presented  the  following  resolutions: 

I.  Whereas  Daniel  Webster,  that  base  and  infamous  enemy  of 
the  human  race,  did  in  a  speech  of  which  he  delivered  himself  in 
Syracuse  last  spring,  exultingly  and  insultingly  predict  that  fugitive 
slaves  would  yet  be  taken  away  from  Syracuse,  and  even  from  anti- 
slavery  conventions  in  Syracuse ;  and  whereas,  the  attempt  to  fulfil 
this  prediction  was  delayed  until  the  first  day  of  October,  1851,  when 
the  Liberty  Party  of  the  State  of  New  York  were  holding  their  An 
nual  Convention  in  Syracuse  ;  and  whereas,  the  attempt  was  de 
feated  by  the  majestic  and  mighty  uprising 'of  two  thousand  five 
hundred  brave  men,  before  whom  the  half  dozen  kidnappers  were 
but  "  as  tow  ;  " — therefore, 

Resolved,  That  we  rejoice  that  the  city  of  Syracuse — the  anti- 
slavery  city  of  Syracuse — the  city  of  anti-slavery  conventions — our 
beloved  and  glorious  city  of  Syracuse — still  remains  undisgraced  by 
the  fulfilment  of  the  satanic  prediction  of  the  satanic  Daniel 
Webster. 


HUMANITY.  1.1.9 

Resolved,  That  the  gratitude  of  our  hearts  goes  out  to  the  God 
of  the  oppressed  for  the  defeat  of  this  attempt  to  replunge  a  poor 
brother  into  the  horrors  and  hell  of  slavery  ;  and  that  although  we 
are  pleased  to  know  that  the  outraged  and  indignant  people  spared 
the  life  of  every  one  of  the  kidnappers,  we  nevertheless  feel  bound  to 
declare  that  if  any  class  of  criminals  deserve  to  be  struck  down  in 
instant  death  it  is  kidnappers. 

Resolved,  That  notwithstanding  the  enactment  of  the  "  Fugitive 
Slave  Law,"  and  the  general  acquiescence  in  it  under  the  influence 
of  the  devil-prompted  speeches  of  politicians  and  devil-prompted 
sermons  of  priests,  give  fearful  evidence  that  this  is  a  doomed  and 
damned  nation,  we  nevertheless  cannot  forbear  to  derive  some  little 
hope  from  the  recent  resistance  to  kidnappers  in  Pennsylvania,  and 
from  the  resistance  to  them  yesterday  in  Syracuse,  that  a  patient 
and  long-suffering  God  has  not  left  this  superlatively  wicked  nation 
to  perish. 

Resolved,  That  every  fresh  demonstration  of  the  character  and 
claims  of  slavery,  serves  to  bind  the  principles  of  the  Liberty  Party 
still  closer  and  closer  to  our  hearts  ;  and  to  make  it  more  manifest 
that  we  have  no  right  to  vote  for  any  person  for  civil  office — how 
ever  high  or  however  low  may  be  the  office — who  is  not  an  out  and 
out  abolitionist. 

To  those  whose  memory  goes  not  back  to  these 
times  of  dread  excitement,  the  spirit  of  these  resolutions 
will  seem  fanatical,  and  their  language  intemperate. 
But  they  who  lived  then,  and  shared  anything  of  the 
feeling  that  prevailed,  will  bear  testimony  that  the  sen 
timents  expressed  are  no  stronger  than  was  usual  with 
anti-slavery  men,  nay,  hardly  so  strong.  The  abolition 
ists  had  no  words  to  convey  their  detestation  of  the 
"  Fugitive  Slave  Law,"  its  authors,  executors  and  apolo 
gists.  In  their  view  it  was  atheistic  and  inhuman  ;  it 
involved  an  utter  practical  disbelief  in  the  principles  of 
justice  and  kindness  ;  a  repudiation,  not  of  the  Bible 
merely,  not  of  Christianity  alone,  but  of  every  form  of 
religious  duty,  of  every  sentiment  that  had  become  na- 


120  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

tive  to  mankind.  In  Mr.  Smith's  mind,  the  feeling  was 
one  not  of  anger,  not  at  all  of  vindictiveness,  but  of 
moral  abhorrence  ;  it  was  the  feeling  that  the  Christian 
has  for  the  atheist,  that  the  saint  has  for  Satan.  His 
faith  was  in  the  inherent  virtue  of  man,  and  slavery  as 
the  suppression  of  this  virtue,  was  literally  a  godless  in 
stitution,  a  creation  of  the  evil  one. 

The  following  letter,  never  before  published,  I  think, 
requires  no  explanation : 

Peterboro,  Nov.  31,  1846, 

MR.  WILLIAM  LEE  : 

Dear  Sir,  —  Your  master,  Mr.  M writes  me  that  you  are  a 

very  bad  man,  and  that  the  best  thing  to  do  with  you  is  to  sell  you  to  a 
severe  southern  master.  I  take  pity  on  you  as  my  brother  man.  and 

send  Mr.  M one  hundred  and  sixty  dollars.     Ten  dollars   of 

the  one  hundred  and  sixty,  I  ask  him  to  hand  you  to  bear  your 
expenses  here.  The  remaining  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  are  for 
himself.  He  consents  to  part  with  you  for  that  sum. 

I  write  Mr.  M to  direct  you  to  my  home.     I  shall  not  be 

here  when  you  arrive.  I  hope  to  find  you  in  a  good  family  in  my 
neighborhood  when  I  return.  ...  I  do  not  wish  you  to  return 
me  a  single  dollar  of  the  one  hundred  and  sixty  dollars  which  you 
cost  me.  You  must  be  content  with  small  wages  in  the  winter,  and 
all  the  smaller  as  you  are  a  stranger.  But  if  you  prove  yourself 
to  be  industrious,  sober  and  good-tempered,  you  will  soon  com 
mand  good  wages  and  have  money  enough  to  buy  yourself  a  little 
home. 

William  !  I  don't  believe  that  the  best  thing  to  do  with  you  was 
to  sell  you  to  a  hard  master.  I  believe  that  the  best  thing  for  you 
was  to  make  you  a  freeman,  and  now  that  you  are  a  freeman,  you 
will  prove  yourself  to  be  a  good  man,  an  industrious  man,  an  honest 
man,  a  kind-tempered  man.  Now  William,  show  your  old  master 
what  a  good  man  a  bad  slave  is  capable  of  becoming  when  he  has 
his  freedom. 

Come  to  see  me,  William,  when  I  get  home.  The  Lord  bless 
and  guide  you,  and  give  you  a  good  heart. 

Your  friend, 

GERRIT  SMITH. 


HUMANITY.  121 

The  "evangelical"  minister  who  permits  the  use  of 
this  letter  pronounces  it  worthy  to  rank  with  Paul's  let 
ter  to  Philemon.  And  so  it  is.  There  is  this  notable 
difference  however  between  the  two  epistles,  that  the 
one  is  written  to  a  master,  the  other  to  a  slave ;  the  one 
appeals  to  the  "  Christian  "  feeling  of  a  slave-holder  for 
a  slave  who  has  become  a  Christian  ;  the  other  appeals 
to  the  spirit  of  humanity  in  a  slave  who  has  become 
a  man. 

This  regard  for  the  "  bare  man  "  was  never  hidden 
by  ceremony  or  affectation.  The  anniversary  of  the 
rescue  of  Jerry  was  kept  for  several  years,  and  Gerrit 
Smith  was  happy  to  preside  so  long  as  he  felt  that  the 
observance  was  sincere.  When,  in  his  judgment,  it  be 
came  a  mere  ceremony,  he  would  have  nothing  more  to 
do  with  it.  To  the  invitation,  which  came  as  usual,  in 
1859,  he  made  reply: 

"  My  interest  in  these  anniversaries  has  greatly  declined  for  the 
last  two  or  three  years ;  and  I  am  now  decidedly  of  the  opinion  that 
it  is  unwise  to  continue  to  repeat  the  farce  any  longer.  The  rescue 
of  Jerry  was  a  great  and  glorious  event.  Would  God  it  had  been 
duly  improved  !  But  those  who  achieved  it,  and  I  include  in  this 
number  all  who  cheered  it  on,  and  rejoiced  in  every  step  of  its  pro 
gress,  have,  with  few  exceptions,  proved  themselves  unworthy  of  the 
work  of  their  own  hands.  We  delivered  Jerry  in  the  face  of  the  au 
thority  of  Congress  and  courts  ;  and,  as  most  of  us  believed,  in  con 
tempt  also  of  a  provision  of  the  Constitution  itself.  We  delivered 
him  believing  that  there  was  no  law  and  could  be  no  law  for  slavery. 
On  that  occasion  our  humanity  was  up  ;  and  in  vain  would  all  the 
authorities  on  earth,  even  the  bible  itself  included,  have  bid  it  down. 
Our  humanity  owned  Jerry  for  its  brother  ;  and  so  did  it  cling  to 
him,  that  all  the  wealth  of  the  world  would  not  have  sufficed  to  buy 
it  off,  or  taught  it  to  ignore  and  betray  him. 

Oh,  had  the  thousands,  who,  on  that  memorable  night  crowded 
the  streets  of  Syracuse,  but  maintained  the  sublime  elevation  to 
which  the  spirit  of  that  night  exalted  them,  what  a  force  for  the  over- 
5 


122  LIFE   OF  GEKRIT  SMITH. 

throw  of  slavery  would  they  not  have  accumulated  by  this  time! 
But  they  soon  fell  from  it.  They  soon  sunk  down  to  the  low  level 
of  their  political  and  church  parties.  Jerry  was  forgotten ;  their 
humanity  was  dead.  .  .  . 

"  We  had  better  give  up  the  celebration  of  the  rescue  of  Jerry. 
The  thing  is  quite  too  great  and  good  for  us.  Earnest  and  honest 
men  are  alone  suited  to  it.  We  Jerry  rescuers  are  mean  men  and 
sham  men." 

The  courage  of  this  position  will  be  appreciated  by 
those  who  have  known  how  much  harder  it  is  to  disagree 
with  friends  than  to  fight  enemies.  He  was  personally 
no  coward  who  rescued  the  slave :  he  was  morally  no 
coward  who  reproved  the  slave  rescuers. 

A  humanity  so  completely  unconscious  of  the  dis 
tinctions  of  race,  was,  naturally,  unconscious  of  the  civil 
and  moral  distinctions  of  sex.  That  this  large  hearted 
philanthropist  devoted  himself  less  ardently  to  the  cause 
of  woman's  emancipation  than  to  others,  was  owing 
probably  to  its  less  conspicuous  and  crying  importance, 
and  to  the  fact  that  no  great  battle  raged  about  it.  The 
opposition  was  not  organized  because  the  evil  was  less 
manifest.  The  principle  was,  however,  evident  to  the 
philanthropist's  clear  mind,  and  his  enunciation  of  it  was 
decided  and  unqualified.  His  complaint  was  directed 
however  against  women  themselves, — that  they  were 
wanting  in  respect  for  their  own  dignity,  were  creatures 
of  fashion,  slothful,  capricious,  vain  of  the  silken  chains 
they  wore.  Their  passion  for  dress,  their  persistency  in 
wearing  a  dress  that  condemned  them  to  a  life  of  dis 
play,  made  them  slow  and  inactive,  injured  their  physical 
health  and  doomed  them  to  sedentary  occupations,  was 
in  his  judgment,  at  the  root  of  the  whole  evil  complained 
of.  The  reform  that  most  concerned  him  in  connection 


HUMANITY.  123 

with  women  was  the  dress  reform.  The  first  to  discard 
the  trailing  skirt  and  put  on  what  afterwards  was  un 
fortunately  called  the  "  Bloomer  "  was  his  own  daughter. 
Long,  printed  letters  to  Mrs.  E.  C.  Stanton  and  Miss  S. 
B.  Anthony,  committed  him  to  the  most  extreme  doc 
trine  on  the  subject  of  the  equality  of  the  sexes.  The 
following  letter  is  interesting  : 

Albany,  Oct.  35,  1852. 

Miss  PELLET,  Oberlin,  Ohio : 

Dear  Friend —  On  my  way  to  this  city,  to  take  part  in  defend 
ing  the  persons  charged  with  rescuing  "Jerry,"  you  were  so  good 
as  to  hand  me  Professor  Fairchild's  Report,  "on  the  joint  education 
of  the  sexes."  I  have  read  it  with  great  interest.  It  is  eloquent  and 
able.  Nevertheless,  I  can  find  some  fault  with  it. 

Professor  F.  on  page  27  admits  the  doctrine  that  the  sexes  differ 
in  their  "mental  constitution."  That  is  as  I  understand  him,  that 
they  differ  naturally  in  this  respect.  Now  I  regard  this  doctrine  as 
very  false  and  very  pernicious :  and  I  believe  that  the  wrongs  of 
women  will  never  be  righted  until  this  doctrine  that  there  is  sex  in 
mind  is  exploded.  But,  if  I  read  the  Professor  rightly,  he  does  him 
self  virtually  tell  us,  on  pages  33  and  34,  that  this  doctrine  is  not 
founded  in  truth.  He  there  confronts  it  with  his  "  experience  of 
twelve  years  "  in  a  school  where  "  the  sexes  pursued  the  entire  range 
of  academical  study  in  common." 

On  page  37  Professor  F.  would  guard  well  "  the  feminine  in 
stincts."  But  why  not  the  masculine  also?  What  means  he  by 
"feminine  instincts?"  On  page  38  he  would  have  "wojnanhood 
become  more  beautiful,  and  manhood  more  strong."  But  why 
would  he  not  have  each  become  both  beautiful  and  strong?  Beauty 
is  as  desirable  and  attainable  an  element  in  male  character  as  in 
"  female  character  ;  "  and  so  is  strength  as  desirable  and  attainable 
an  element  in  "  female  character  "  as  in  male  character.  On  page 
30,  the  Professor  is  concerned  to  preserve  the  modesty  and  delicacy 
of  woman.  And  why  should  he  not  be  as  much  concerned  to  have 
man  modest  and  delicate  as  woman  ? 

Heaven  speed  the  day  when  man  shall  be  expected  to  blush  as 
quick  and  as  deep  as  woman,  at  every  degree  of  impurity  :  and 
when  the  churches  and  schools  and  public  sentiment  of  the  whole 
world  shall  demand  the  same  mental  and  moral  character — the 


. 

124  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

same  mental  and  moral  strength,  beauty  and  delicacy— for  woman 
as  for  man — for  man  as  for  woman.  GERRIT  SMITH. 

In  the  same  strain  is  the  following  extract  from  a 
letter  to  Susan  B.  Anthony,  written  in  1853  : 

"  I  know  not  why  it  is  not  as  much  the  duty  of  your  sex  as  it  is 
of  mine,  to  establish  newspapers,  write  books  and  hold  public  meet 
ings  for  the  promotion  of  the  cause  of  temperance.  The  current 
idea  that  modesty  should  hold  women  back  from  such  services  is  all 
resolvable  into  nonsense  and  wickedness.  Female  modesty  !  Fe 
male  delicacy  !  I  would  that  I  might  never  again  hear  such  phrases. 
There  is  but  one  standard  of  modesty  and  delicacy  for  both  men  and 
women  ;  and  so  long  as  different  standards  are  tolerated,  both  sexes 
will  be  perverse  and  corrupt.  It  is  my  duty  to  be  as  modest  and 
delicate  as  you  are,  and  if  your  modesty  and  delicacy  may  excuse 
you  from  making  a  public  speech,  then  may  mine  excuse  me  from 
making  one." 

In  a  letter  addressed  to  Mrs.  Stanton,  in  1869,  on 
the  right  of  women  to  vote,  the  ground  taken  is  absolute 
enough  to  satisfy  any  champion  of  that  cause. 

"  Women  have  as  full  right  as  men  to  participate  in  making  the 
laws  by  which,  equally  with  men,  they  are  governed."  .  .  . 
"  Men  are  ever  defining  woman's  sphere — but  as  well  might  women 
be  guilty  of  the  like  arrogance  in  regard  to  man's  sphere."  "  Every 
one  should  be  left  at  entire  liberty  to  choose  an  individual  sphere — a 
man  to  choose  to  knit  or  sew — a  woman  to  choose  to  fell  trees  or  to 
be  a  blacksmith."  The  title  to  vote  is  claimed  for  women  on  four 
grounds.  I.  As  a  natural  right.  2.  As  a  necessity  for  complete 
representation.  3.  As  a  help  to  the  enlargement  of  woman's  range 
of  thought  and  action.  4.  As  a  qualification  to  be  a  worthy  helper 
of  man  in  the  task  of  promoting  progress. 

In  the  course  of  argument  on  these  points,  thoughts 
of  the  most  radical,  searching  kind  were  thrown  out. 
The  method  of  forcing  the  issue  by  persistent  application 
at  the  polls  found  favor  with  him. 

"  I  wish  "  he  wrote,  "  women  would,  everywhere,  throng  the  polls 


HUMANITY.  125 

and  offer  their  votes,  and  do  this  from  year  to  year,  until  men  can 
no  longer  withstand  the  appeal.  Such  earnestness  and  such  deter 
mination  would  not  fail  to  convince  men  of  woman's  faith  in  her 
right  to  vote  ;  and  this  would  be  quickly  followed  by  their  own  belief 
in  her  right  to  vote,  and  by  a  breast  full  of  shame  at  having  with 
held  the  right  from  her." 

To  Mrs.  Stanton's  inquiry  why,  with  his  opinions,  he 
had  no  more  faith  in  the  movement,  he  frankly  replied  : 

"  It  is  not  in  the  proper  hands  ;  the  proper  hands  are  not  to  be 
found.  The  present  age,  although  in  advance  of  any  former  age,  is 
nevertheless  very  far  from  being  sufficiently  under  the  sway  of  reason 
to  take  up  the  cause  of  woman  and  carry  it  forward  to  success." 

"  Only  let  woman  attire  her  person  fitly  for  the  whole  battle  of 
life — that  great  and  often  rough  battle,  which  she  is  as  much  bound 
to  fight  as  man  is,  and  the  common  sense  expressed  in  the  change 
will  put  to  flight  all  the  nonsensical  fancies  about  her  inferiority  to 
man.  No  more  will  then  be  heard  of  her  being  made  of  a  finer  ma 
terial  than  man  is  made  of:  and,  on  the  contrary,  no  more  will  then 
be  heard  of  her  being  but  the  complement  of  man,  and  of  its  taking 
both  a  man  and  a  woman  (the  woman  of  course  but  a  small  part  of 
it)  to  make  up  a  unit.  No  more  will  it  then  be  said  that  there  is 
sex  in  mind — an  original  sexual  difference  in  intellect.  What  a  pity 
that  so  many  of  our  noblest  women  make  this  foolish  admission  ! 
It  is  made  by  the  great  majority  of  the  women  who  plead  the  cause 
of  woman." 

"  I  am  amazed  that  the  intelligent  women  engaged  in  the 
'  Woman's  rights  movement '  see  not  the  relation  between  their 
dress  and  the  oppressive  evils  which  they  are  striving  to  throw  off. 
I  am  amazed  that  they  do  not  see  that  their  dress  is  indispensable 
to  keep  in  countenance  the  policy  and  purposes,  out  of  which  those 
evils  grow.  I  hazard  nothing  in  saying  that  the  relation  between  the 
dress  and  the  degradation  of  an  American  woman  is  as  vital  as  be 
tween  the  cramped  foot  and  degradation  of  a  Chinese  woman  ;  as 
vital  as  between  the  uses  of  the  inmate  of  the  harem,  and  the  ap 
parel  and  training  provided  for  her." 

"  Women  are  holding  their  meetings  ;  and  with  great  ability  do 
they  urge  their  claims  to  the  rights  of  property  and  suffrage.  But, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  colored  man,  the  great  needed  change  is  in 
himself,  so  also  in  the  case  of  woman  the  great  needed  change  is 
in  herself.  Of  what  comparative  avail  would  be  her  exercise  of  the 


126  LIFE   OF  G  ERR  IT  SMITH. 

right  of  suffrage  if  she  is  still  to  remain  the  victim  of  her  present 
false  notions  of  herself  and  of  her  relations  to  the  other  sex  ?  " 

"  The  next  'woman's  rights  convention  'will,  I  take  it  for  granted, 
differ  but  little  from  its  predecessors.  It  will  abound  in  righteous 
demands  and  noble  sentiments,  but  not  in  the  evidence  that  they 
who  enunciate  these  demands  and  sentiments  are  prepared  to  put 
themselves  in  harmony  with  what  they  conceive  and  demand.  In  a 
word,  for  the  lack  of  such  preparation,  and  of  the  deep  earnestness 
which  alone  can  prompt  to  this  preparation,  it  will  be,  as  has  been 
every  other  '  Woman's  rights  convention,'  a  failure." 

That  these  opinions  were  heretical  in  the  judgment  of 
the  advocates  as  well  as  of  the  opponents  of  the  cause, 
was  clearly  apprehended.  That  he  would  be  accused  of 
breaking  down  social  distinctions,  of  unsettling  moral 
usages,  of  flying  in  the  face  of  the  Bible,  and  setting  at 
naught  the  precepts  of  religion  was  avowed.  But  the  pen 
alty  of  all  this  enormity  is  cheerfully  encountered.  The 
claims  of  humanity  in  this  regard  as  well  as  in  regard  to 
the  questions  of  temperance  and  liberty  are  boldly  pre 
ferred  to  the  claims  of  church,  bible  and  society. 

The  humanity  of  this  man  knew  absolutely  no  dis 
tinction  of  persons.  He  respected  humanity  in  the  most 
unpromising  subjects  and  under  the  most  adverse  cir 
cumstances.  In  the  adjoining  town  of  Nelson,  on  the 
Cherry  Valley  Turnpike,  there  lived,  in  1856,  an  old 
man,  a  farmer,  named  John  Buck.  He  had  lived  there 
some  sixty  years.  On  the  evening  of  the  I4th  of  March, 
Buck  was  found  dead  in  his  barn,  which  stood  opposite 
his  house,  with  an  ugly  wound  in  his  head.  His  horse 
was  loose  in  the  barn,  and  it  was  conjectured  might 
have  kicked  the  old  man  of  eighty  to  death.  There 
were  no  blood  stains  of  consequence  anywhere  in  the 
barn  or  the  house,  or  on  the  white  snow  between,  or  on 
the  dead  man's  person.  There  was  clearly  no  attempt 


HUMANITY.  127 

at  robbery.  But  there  was  a  blood-stained  axe  in  the 
house  that  suggested  murder.  The  last  person  seen 
with  the  dead  man,  who  lived  quite  alone,  was  George 
William  Zecher,  a  young  Dutchman,  who  lived  nearly 
three  miles  from  the  scene  of  the  murder  in  the  adjacent 
town  of  Eaton.  Zecher  was  arrested,  examined  and 
committed  for  trial  before  the  grand  jury,  which  met  at 
Morrisville.  The  incident  caused  great  excitement 
through  the  county.  Mr.  Smith,  learning  that  Zecher 
came  from  the  same  part  of  Holland  with  his  father,  was 
poor,  a  stranger,  friendless  and  unable  to  speak  English 
intelligibly,  went  to  see  him  in  jail,  talked  with  him,  as 
well  as  he  could  in  Dutch,  became  interested  in  him, 
heard  his  story,  was  persuaded  of  his  innocence,  was 
impressed  by  his  "  harmless,  childlike  spirit,"  "  his  sim 
ple,  artless  manner,"  "  his  beautiful  and  sublime  stead 
fastness  in  the  truth,"  "  his  straightforward  account  of 
himself;"  the  "many  virtues"  of  the  prisoner  won  his 
heart,  and  he  undertook  his  defence.  It  was  no  easy 
task.  He,  though  destined  for  the  law,  and  acquainted 
with  so  much  of  law  as  concerned  the  management  of 
estates,  was  not  by  profession  a  lawyer,  and  the  district 
attorney,  David  J.  Mitchell,  was  one  of  the  able  lawyers 
of  the  State.  Mr.  Smith  was  even  obliged  to  obtain 
permission  to  practice  at  the  New  York  bar  in  order  to 
defend  his  client.  At  the  time  he  was  ill,  as  the  entries 
in  his  diary  show. 

Dec.  I,  1856.  I  go  this  morning  to  court  at  Morrisville  to  defend 
poor  Zecher.  I  am  suffering  much  from  sickness,  and  hoarseness. 
I  return  at  evening. 

2,  I  go  again,  much  depressed  by  my  fears  that  I  shall  not  be 
able  to  speak  for  the  poor  prisoner.  I  return  at  evening. 


128  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

3,  I  have  raised  a  great  deal  of  phlegm  this  morning.    I  go  again 
to  court,  hoping  my  voice  may  so  improve  that  I  can  speak  to  the 
jury.     I  return  at  evening. 

4,  To  court  again,  and  return  at  evening.     I  slept  but  half  an 
hour  last  night. 

5,  I  go  to  court  again.     I  am  very  sick  and  my  head  aches 
much.     I  slept  but  two  hours  last  night. 

The  effort  was  made  the  following  day, — December 
6.  It  was  the  second  trial.  At  the  first,  the  jury  had 
disagreed.  Another  judge  was  on  the  bench.  Mr.  Smith 
spoke  between  five  and  six  hours,  in  his  hearty,  natural, 
ingenuous  way,  producing  great  effect  on  the  crowded 
assembly  by  his  open,  sincere  bearing,  and  his  cordial 
conviction;  at  the  end  of  the  first  half-hour  his  Jiead  be 
came  clear,  his  voice  recovered  its  tone ;  the  fullness  of 
his  heart  flooded  his  mind  and  brightened  his  speech. 
The  case  went  to  the  jury  at  seven  o'clock.  Mr.  Smith, 
hat  in  hand,  approached  Zecher,  took  his  hand  and  said: 
"  I  have  done  all  I  could  for  you.  I  leave  you  in  the 
hands  of  an  intelligent  jury  who,  I  believe,  will  never 
decide  that  your  life  shall  be  taken  for  a  crime  they  are 
not  sure  you  ever  committed.  If  you  are  cleared  by  the 
jury,  as  you  cannot  speak  our  language  and  have  no 
home,  come  to  my  house  at  Peterboro,  and  I  will  find 
you  employment."  Then,  bowing  to  the  court  and 
bar  he  withdrew.  At  eleven  o'clock  that  night  the  news 
came  to  him  that  Zecher  was  acquitted.  Early  the  next 
day,  the  man  appeared  and  received  such  a  welcome  as 
Gerrit  Smith  knew  well  how  to  give.  There  was  family 
worship  of  thanks  and  prayer,  the  tears  streaming  down 
the  noble  man's  face  as  he  turned  it  heavenward. 

The  man  remained  about  a  year  in  Mr.  Smith's  em 
ploy.  At  the  end  of  that  time  it  was  thought  best  to 


HUMANITY.  129 

send  him  back  to   his  native   land.     Preparations  were 
made  :  passes  were  secured.     The  diary  tells  the  tale. 

Wednesday,  Jan.  13,  1858,  6  A.  M.  George  William  Zecher  and 
wife  with  their  two  children,  Charles  or  Carl,  little  more  than  two 
years  old,  and  William,  born  last  June,  left  us  a  iew  moments  ago 
for  Germany.  His  parents  sent  for  him  to  come  and  live  with  them. 
I  had  Zecher  and  wife  with  rne  in  the  library  this  morning.  I  gave 
them  my  best  advice  ;  especially  full  was  I  in  regard  to  strong  drink 
and  tobacco.  I  prayed  with  them.  I  received  Willie's  last  assurance 
of  his  entire  innocence  in  the  matter  of  Mr.  Buck's  death,  and  never 
was  I  so  fully  convinced  of  his  innocence  as  when  he  now  told  me 
of  it  and  looked  upon  me  with  his  large  and  honest  (childlike  honest) 
eyes.  We  parted  from  each  other  with  tears  and  kisses — and  with 
many  thoughts  and  deep  emotions.  How  I  toiled  for  his  acquittal, 
when  he  lay  under  the  charge  of  murder !  How  I  carried  him  for 
nearly  a  year  in  my  anxious  heart,  even  as  a  tender  mother  carries 
her  sick  child. 

Zecher  departed  ;  on  the  ipth  a  letter  was  received 
from  a  kinsman  in  New  York  saying  that  he  had  re 
ported  himself  and  then  disappeared.  The  surmise  was 
natural  that  he  had  deserted,  either  not  sailing  at  all,  or 
sailing  without  his  family.  On  the  23d  the  good  man 
was  made  unhappy  by  reports  that  his  protegt  was  dis 
honest,  quarrelsome,  profane  ;  that  he  chewed  tobacco 
and  drank ;  that  he  beat  his  wife,  and  threatened  to  leave 
her.  It  seemed  not  unlikely  that  he  was  the  kind  of 
man  to  commit  the  crime  of  manslaughter  of  which  he 
had  been  acquitted.  If  Mr.  Smith  thought  so  he  kept 
his  suspicion  in  his  heart,  and  none  the  less  went  on 
putting  his  faith  in  human  nature. 

A  more  remarkable  case  than  this  of  Zecher,  as 
showing  how  completely  the  humanity  of  the  philan 
thropist  rose  above  considerations  of  merit  and  demerit 
in  the  individual,  and  comprehended  the  vicious  as  well 
6* 


130  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

as  the  suspected — was  that  of  the  mob  in   Peterboro. 
Thus  he  pours  out  his  feelings  in  the  diary. 

June  22,  1842.  Peterboro.  dear  Peterboro,  is  deeply  perhaps 
indelibly  disgraced  !  A  mob  broke  night  before  last,  into  the  house 
of  Henry  Devan,  abused  his  person,  dragged  him  out,  and  rode 
him  through  the  village  on  a  board  ;  and  the  worst  of  all  is  that  I 
find  scarce  any  individual  who  sympathizes  with  me  in  the  indigna 
tion  with  which  this  outrage  inflames  me.  Many  will  say  that  a 
mob  is  to  be  condemned,  but  will  add,  in  the  cold  breath  with  which 
they  utter  it,  that  they  have  no  pity  for  Devan,  that  he  deserved  no 
better  treatment ;  thus  do  they  virtually  justify  the  mob.  The  provo 
cation  to  this  outrage  is  the  charge,  (I  know  not  how  well  substan 
tiated,)  that  Devan  has  recently  been  guilty  of  fornication.  The  late 
crime  of  E.  M.,  and  the  late  conversion  of  the  Peterboro  temperance 
house  into  a  house  of  death,  did  much  to  disgrace  our  village.  But, 
in  this  instance,  not  one  or  two  individuals  only,  but  the  people 
themselves  have  disgraced  it. 

This  is  the  story  told  in  detail  by  himself.  It  is 
given  in  his  own  language  that  his  whole  action  may 
be  understood.  It  is  a  revelation  of  the  spirit  of  the 
man.  That  the  feeling  manifested  was  no  superficial  or 
evanescent  one,  but  deep  and  earnest,  appears  in  the 
fact  that  years  elapsed  before  the  bitterness  of  the 
recollection  passed  away. 

June  22,  1842.  I  learned  yesterday  morning,  that  the  previous 
night,  a  mob  broke  into  H.  Devan 's  house — abused  his  person  and 
dragged  him  out  in  the  presence  of  his  family — rode  him  on  a  board 
through  the  village — and  were  with  difficulty  restrained  from  putting 
tar  and  feathers  upon  him,  and  torturing  him  with  spirits  of  tur 
pentine. 

This  intelligence  called  up  various  emotions  in  my  breast.  I  was 
melted  with  pity  toward  my  poor  outraged  fellow  man.  I  was  fired 
with  indignation  toward  those  who  had  visited  this  outrage  upon 
him.  I  was  filled  with  grief  in  view  of  the  deep,  if  not  indelible  dis 
grace,  which  was  brought  upon  my  beloved  Peterboro — a  village  in 
whose  mob-abhorring,  and  law-abiding  and  otherwise  good  char 
acter,  I  had  taken  so  much  pride  and  pleasure. 


HUMANITY.  131 

I  went  into  the  village  and  to  my  amazement,  found  it  quiet  and 
no  cne  ready  to  sympathize  with  me  in  the  feelings  of  my  soul.  It 
is  true  that  my  friends  N.  Huntington  and  F.  Dana  said  that  mobs 
were  wrong  and  that  the  persons  engaged  in  this  mob  deserved  to 
be  punished  ;  but  in  the  same  cold  breath  with  which  they  made  this 
remark,  they  would  speak  disparagingly  of  all  sympathy  with  Devan. 
Mr.  Dana  repeatedly  said — "  I  have  no  pity  for  Devan."  His  doc 
trine  of  course,  is  that  if  a  man  be  wicked  and  vile,  his  brother  man 
is  under  no  obligation  to  pity  him  for  the  blows  inflicted  upon  his 
body  or  for  the  insults  inflicted  upon  his  manhood.  Is  this  a  Chris 
tian  doctrine  ?  Does  not  Christ  pity  the  sufferings  of  the  vilest  man 
on  earth  ?  Then  must  not  His  disciples  do  likewise  ?  Is  this  doc 
trine  learnt  of  Him,  who  "  maketh  His  sun  to  rise  on  the  evil  and  on 
the  good,  and  sendeth  rain  on  the  just  and  on  the  unjust  ?  " 

Our  county  court  was  in  session.  But  not  a  neighbor  did  I  see, 
who  was  desirous  to  have  a  complaint  made  to  the  grand  jury 
against  the  lawless  ruffians.  I  started  for  Devan's  house — but  met 
him,  ere  I  had  gone  far.  As  soon  as  he  came  up  to  me,  he  burst 
into  tears.  I  felt  myself  honored  by  his  tears — honored  by  this  evi 
dence  that  he  calculated  on  my  sympathy.  He  accompanied  me 
to  my  office.  I  wrote  the  district  attorney,  giving  him  a  brief 
account  of  the  outrage,  and  expressing  my  earnest  hope  that  the 
offenders  would  be  brought  to  justice.  I  handed  it  to  Devan  to 
gether  with  a  little  money  to  bear  his  expenses  during  his  stay  in 
Morrisville. 

In  the  afternoon  of  yesterday,  I  sat  an  hour  in  Major  Curtis' 
store.  I  found  him  justifying  the  mob.  Said  he,  to  use  his  own 
words, — "  There  are  no  laws  to  punish  Devan's  crimes — and  there 
fore  we  must  not  complain  if  the  boys  make  laws  for  the  occasion." 
By  "boys"  he  meant  the  persons  who  composed  the  mob.  Mr. 
Pern-  G.  Palmer  came  in.  He  was  filled  with  the  same  spirit  which 
animated  the  Major.  To  use  his  precise  words,  he  said :  "Perhaps, 
they  might  have  taken  a  better  way  to  punish  him."  I  owe  it  how 
ever  to  them  to  say,  that  before  I  left  the  store  they  both  admitted 
in  words,  that  the  mob  was  not  to  be  approred. 

Mr.  Dana,  who  had  been  at  court  both  yesterday  and  to-day,  in 
formed  me,  this  evening,  that  Devan's  complaint  to  the  grand  jury 
was  ineffectual.  He  said  that  he  thought  the  district  attorney  was 
indisposed  to  the  finding  of  bills  in  the  case — and  he  admitted  that 
he  himself  had  done  nothing  to  bring  the  offenders  to  justice,  and 
that  he  knew  of  no  person  beside  Devan  and  myself,  who  had  lifted 
a  finger  to  that  end.  Indeed,  he  went  so  far  as  to  remind  me,  that 


I32  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

the  fact  of  my  standing  alone  in  this  matter  should  lead  me  to  ques 
tion  whether  it  is  right  ground  on  which  I  stand. 

I  have  learned  from  Mr.  Dana,  Mr.  Scofield  and  other  sources, 
of  the  efforts,  and  very  successful  efforts  too,  which  are  making  in 
this  community  to  load  me  with  the  odium  of  giving  countenance  to 
Devan's  vices.  To  identify  myself  with  Devan  in  the  affair  of  this 
mob  is  what  I  desire.  It  is  my  delight,  as  it  is  my  duty,  to  put  my 
soul  in  his  soul's  stead.  I  wish  to  have  the  liveliest  conception — 
a  realizing  sense  of  the  brutal  wrongs  that  have  been  done  him. 
How  far  I  am  the  friend  and  patron  of  vice,  my  life — not  my  lips — 
must  say. 

I  am  very  sensible,  that,  because  of  the  stand  I  have  taken  in  this 
matter,  there  is  a  very  strong  and  almost  universal  feeling  against 
me  in  this  community.  No  man  here  is  so  odious  and  detested  as 
Devan — and  my  neighbors  will  be  slow  to  forgive  me  for  having  said 
openly  to  him,  as  I  did  yesterday :  "  Well,  Devan,  I  pledge  myself  to 
you,  that  I  will  stand  by  you  in  your  endeavor  to  bring  these 
offenders  to  justice."  My  family  are  apprehensive  that  I  shall  be 
the  victim  of  the  next  Peterboro  mob  :  and,  in  my  own  judgment, 
nothing  but  my  somewhat  influential  position  in  society  saves  me 
from  being  mobbed.  They  who  can  strike  down  the  rights  of  the 
meanest  and  poorest  man  have  no  principle  to  restrain  them  from 
trampling  under  their  feet  the  rights  of  any  other  man.  For  the 
mob  that  shall  be  rallied  to  drag  me  from  my  family  I  shall  hold 
those  leading  citizens  of  Peterboro  responsible,  who  either  wink  at, 
or  openly  justify,  or,  at  least,  have  not  the  spirit  to  condemn  the 
mob  that  dragged  Devan  from  his  family.  That  we  may  anticipate 
more  mobs  in  Peterboro  is  reasonable  from  the  fact,  that  the  coun 
tenance  given  to  the  recent  lawless  ruffianism  has  emboldened  per 
sons  to  threaten  to  mob  others.  I  am  not  aware  that  my  name  has 
been  mentioned  among  those  who  are  to  be  mobbed.  Mr.  Chapin's 
and  Mrs.  Brown's  have  been. 

I  am  happy  to  find  this  evening,  that  Elder  Stevens  has  just  such 
views  of  this  outrage  as  I  should  expect  that  eminently  good  man — 
that  meek,  unambitious  and  unworldly  man — would  take.  Mr.  Sco 
field  also  is  right.  In  a  public  conversation,  however,  respecting  the 
outrage,  he  allowed  himself  to  speak  of  Devan's  vices  and  baseness. 
This  was  inconsiderate  in  him.  If  we  would  feel  right  toward  the 
mob — if  we  would  duly  pity  Devan  for  his  wounded  body  and  cloven- 
down  rights,  we  must  guard  against  indulging  in  untimely  thoughts 
and  remarks  about  his  demerits.  The  good  Samaritan  did  not  re- 


HUMANITY.  133 

press  his  indignation,  and  stay  his  ministering  hand  while  he  should 
inquire  into  the  moral  character  of  the  wounded  man. 

Peterboro,  which  I  have  loved  very  greatly — too  much — is  no 
longer  lovely  to  me.  It  is  a  deeply,  perhaps  an  indelibly,  disgraced 
village.  But,  perhaps  not  indelibly.  It  would  recover  all  its  lost 
beauty,  if  its  leading  citizens  were  to  put  upon  this  outrage  the  seal 
of  their  reprobation,  and  if.  as  a  probable  consequence  of  such  tes 
timony,  they  who  composed  the  mob  should  be  brought  to  feel  their 
crime,  to  repent  of  it,  and  to  humble  themselves  before  the  man 
whom  they  abused  and  insulted.  So  great  a  change,  however,  I  can 
hardly  hope  for. 

I  am  not  pained  about  Peterboro,  because  I  think  it  worse  than 
other  places — but  because  I  find  that  it  is  no  better  than  other 
places.  How  often  I  had  boasted  of  its  preeminently  pure,  and 
moral  character— and  especially  of  its  mob-hating  character!  In 
1835  Peterboro  was  probably  the  only  village  in  this  State  to  which 
the  mobbed  Utica  Convention  could  have  openly  retreated  with 
safety.  "  How  is  the  gold  become  dim  !  How  is  the  most  fine  gold 
changed ! " 

The  change  in  my  pecuniar}'  circumstances  made  it  proper  for 
me  to  determine  to  leave  Peterboro.  I  should  have  left  it  with  regret, 
but  for  this  horrible  outrage  and  the  general  acquiescence  in  it.  One 
of  the  regrets  which  I  shall  now  feel  in  leaving  it  is,  that,  for  the 
present,  my  business  will  make  it  necessary  for  me  to  revisit  it.  so 
frequently.  GERRIT  SMITH. 

The  foregoing  is  Gerrit  Smith's  memorandum  of  facts 
connected  with  the  atrocious  outrage  on  Henry  Devan 
the  night  of  June  20,  1842 — and  of  some  of  his  feelings 
and  reflections  in  view  of  that  outrage. 

June  24,  1842.  I  am  happy  to  find  that  W.  Loring  Fowler,  who 
at  first  was  indifferent  to  the  outrage,  now  views  it  in  a  just  light. 

June  25,  I  have  had  a  long  conversation  with  W.  Scofield 
this  morning.  He  reasons  and  feels  on  the  subject,  just  as  he 
should  do.  James  C.  Jackson  is  most  heartily  right.  So  is  George 

Saturday,  June  25,  1842.  I  wrote  and  put  upon  my  office  door 
and  on  one  of  the  doors  of  the  Presbyterian  church  copies  of  the  fol 
lowing  notice.  I  also  handed  a  copy  to  Mr.  Scofield  with  the  request 
that  he  would  read  it  in  the  church  to-morrow. 


134  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 


"  NOTICE. 

"  The  citizens  of  Peterboro  and  its  vicinity  are  respectfully  invited 
to  meet  in  the  Presbyterian  church  in  Peterboro,  Saturday  2  p.  M., 
July  2,  for  a  friendly  consultation  respecting  the  mob  by  which  their 
village  has  recently  been  disgraced,  and  to  ascertain  the  duties 
which  at  this  crisis,  they  owe  to  themselves,  to  violated  law  and 
violated  religion.  June  25,  1842." 

July  2,  1842.  I  this  day  attended  the  above  meeting.  There 
were  about  fifty  persons  present — only  three  of  them  females — viz. : 

.     Mr.  Scofield  opened  with  prayer.     Elder was 

appointed  chairman  and  S.  Addison   Dana  secretary.     Mr. N. 

Schofield,  Mr.  Boyle  of  Ohio,  Mr.  Shaw  of  Vermont  and  myself  took 
the  principal  part  in  the  discussion.  The  meeting  was  of  about  four 
hours  continuance.  A  series  of  resolutions  introduced  by  myself 
was  unanimously  adopted,  with  the  exception  of  the  5th.  One  per 
son,  a  Mr.  Charles  Hopkins,  as  I  was  informed,  voted  against  that 
resolution,  for  the  reason  as  he  alleged,  that  Mr.  Devan's  "body" 
was  not  "  bruised."  A  series  of  resolutions  was  offered  by  Mr.  \V. 
P.  Clemens,  not  written,  and  I  believe  not  approved  by  himself. 
They  were  read  and  discussed — but  so  generally  if  not  universally, 
were  they  disapproved  of  by  the  meeting,  that  no  one  in  the  meeting 
urged  that  the  sense  of  the  meeting  be  taken  on  any  one  of  them. 

1.  Resolved,  That  no  crimes,  however  heinous  or  clearly  proven, 
are  to  be  punished  in  ways  forbidden  by  the  laws. 

2.  Resolved,  That  to  deny  legal  protection  to  the  hated  and  de 
spised  is  to  take  the  ground,  that  the  laws  are  made  for  the  exclusive 
protection  of  the  respectable  and  the  favorites  of  public  opinion. 

3.  Resolved,  That  they  who,  whether  through  their  own  or  others' 
wrongs,  are  deprived  of  that  shelter  from  violence  and  outrage  which 
public  opinion  affords,  are  the  very  persons  who  most  need  the  pro 
tection  of  law,  and  to  whom  right-minded  men  will  be  especially 
eager  to  minister  that  protection. 

4.  Whereas  there  are  some  persons  amongst  us,  who  contend  that 
it  is  necessary  to  mob  fornicators  ;  and  whereas  there  are  persons  in 
other  parts  of  our  country,  who  maintain,  some,  that  it  is  necessary 
to  mob  and  hang  abolitionists,  and  others  that  it  is  necessary  to  mob 
and  hang  gamblers :  Resolved,  Therefore,  that  to  admit  the  plea  of 
necessity  for  mobbing  in  any  one  of  these  cases  is  to  open  the  door 
for  mobs  in  every  case,  where  the  lawless  may  think  them  necessary. 

5.  Whereas,  there  are  some  persons  amongst  us  who,  notwith- 


HUMANITY.  135 

standing  their  avowed  indifference  to  the  bruised  body  and  insulted 
manhood  and  cloven  down  rights  of  the  victim  of  the  late  Peterboro 
mob— who,  notwithstanding  their  avowed  pleasure,  in  his  suffering — 
do  nevertheless,  seek  to  make  themselves  and  others  believe,  that 
they  warmly  disapprove  of  the  mob  itself:  Resolved,  Therefore,  that 
the  incompatibility  of  such  disapproval  with  their  pleasure  in,  or  un 
concern  for  the  sufferings  of  the  victim  of  the  mob,  is  shown  not 
only  by  the  nature  of  things,  but  by  the  interest  which  they,  who 
profess  this  warm  disapproval  of  the  mob,  manifest  to  prevent  the 
exposure  of  those  who  composed  it. 

6.  Resolved,  That  the  doctrine  that  we  are  not  to  sympathize  with 
the  wicked  person  who  suffers  wrongs  and  outrages,  is  abhorrent  to 
humanity  and  religion — is  a  doctrine  that  would  turn  man  into  a 
monster  toward  his  fellow  man — is  a  doctrine  that,  were  it  in  the 
heart  of  God,  would  "  shut  the  gates  of  mercy  on  mankind." 

7.  Resolved,  That  this  village  whose  citizens  have,  until  the  re 
cent  outrage,  been  conspicuous  for  their  humane  and    law-abiding 
character,  is  now  deeply  disgraced,  and  that  the  wisest  means  should 
be  immediately  and  earnestly  employed  for  the  recovery  of  its  lost 
character. 

8.  Resolved,  That  it  is  not  by  subjecting  to  legal  penalties  the 
person  conspicious  in  the  late  mob,  that  our  village  can  be  redeemed 
from  its  deep  disgrace.     Violated  law  might  be  honored  in  that  wise. 
But  it  is  only  by  bringing  the  offenders  to  feel  and  deplore  and  pub 
licly  confess  their  wrong  doing,  that  Peterboro  can  be  restored  to 
the  hearts  of  those  who  dear.ly  loved  her,  ere  the  reign  of  mobocracy 
gave  her  a  new  and  loathsome  aspect. 

9.  Resolved,  That  the  repentance  of  the  offenders,  especially  if 
coupled  with  the  acknowledgment  that  they  merit  legal  punishment, 
would  not  only  remove  from  our  village  its  deep  stains  of  disgrace, 
but  would  also  confer  more  honor  on  the  laws  than  would  their 
enforcement. 

10.  Resolved,  In  conclusion,  that  we  earnestly  and  affectionately 
invite  all  who  were  concerned  in  the  mob,  to  make  both  to  the  public 
and  to  Henry  Devan,  a  frank  and  full  acknowledgment  of  their  error, 
that  so  great  an  outrage,  which  doubtless  had  its  origin  in  an  incon 
siderate  and  sportive  state  of  mind,  rather  than  in  a  malignant  and 
cruel  spirit,  may  be  forgiven  and  forgotten. 

But  Gerrit  Smith  did  not  limit  his  kindness  to  stran 
gers.     He  was  not   one  of  the  "  infidels  "  who  neglect 


136  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

their  own  flesh  and  blood.  While  he  respected,  honored 
and  blessed  the  humanity  outside  of  his  circle,  those  in 
side  enjoyed  a  perpetual  flow  of  good  will.  His  affec 
tions  were  as  constant  and  considerate  as  they  were 
ardent.  Words  and  acts  of  endearment  fell  from  his 
mouth,  dropped  from  his  hands,  exhaled  from  his  per 
son.  His  devotion  to  wife,  children,  grandchildren,  great 
grandchildren  was  proverbial.  His  diary  makes  tender 
mention  of  his  "  dear  Martha  "  and  his  little  children, 
dead,  ten,  twenty,  thirty,  forty  years  after  they  had 
passed  away.  The  wound  seems  never  to  heal.  He 
follows  the  apostolic  injunction,  and  owes  no  debts  but 
those  of  love. 

On  the  death  of  his  father,  in  1837,  he  paid  to  the 
eight  children  of  his  brother  and  sister  twenty  thousand 
dollars  each,  for  their  share  of  the  property,  that  being  at 
the  time  its  supposed  value.  Thus  he  became  possessor 
of  the  entire  estate,  and  stood  acquitted  legally  of  all 
responsibility  to  the  other  heirs.  But  in  1 860,  the  prop 
erty  meanwhile  having  greatly  increased  in  worth,  he 
made  an  apportionment  of  one  hundred  and  twenty 
thousand  dollars  to  his  nieces  and  nephews."  In  1862  a 
second  sum  of  equal  amount  was  given.  In  1864  a  fur 
ther  gratuity  of  eighty  thousand  dollars,  in  all  constitu 
ting  three  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  dollars,  com 
pleted  this  exhibition  of  remarkable  conscientiousness. 
The  six  nieces  received,  each,  thirty  thousand  dollars. 
The  two  nephews,  children  of  his  elder  brother,  seventy 
thousand  dollars.  The  papers  conveying  these  sums 
are  so  unostentatious  in  form  that  they  fail  to  impart 
an  idea  of  the  transaction  to  one  unfamiliar  with  the 
preceding  events.  The  performance  was  set  down  sim- 


THE    STUDY 


HUMANITY.  137 

ply  to  the  account  of  equity.  It  was  his  conscience,  not 
his  heart  that  prompted  the  deed.  The  man's  sentiment 
of  justice  demanded  more  of  him  than  most  men's 
sentiment  of  love. 

A  rhymed  diary  recorded  in  snatches  of  verse,  hu 
morous,  sentimental,  pathetic,  the  various  occurrences 
of  the  household,  arrivals  and  departures,  birthdays,  fes 
tivities,  events  for  congratulation,  accidents  and  pranks 
of  the  young  people,  jests  of  the  elders,  pet  whimsies, 
family  jokes  and  traditions,  the  vein  of  pleasantry 
running  through  the  volume,  for  a  volume  there  is,  and 
a  large  one, — attesting  the  unfailing  cheeriness  of  the 
man.  In  the  morning,  the  light  step  of  the  early  riser 
crept  down  the  stairs,  and  soon  the  melodious  voice  was 
heard  humming  little  songs,  for  the  delight  of  the  sing 
er.  At  table  his  talk  was  varied  and  playful ;  he  told  a 
good  story  ;  was  lively  at  repartee  ;  was  happy  in  pro 
posing  and  responding  to  sentiments.  In  the  evening, 
before  going  to  bed,  it  was  his  custom  to  talk  over  the 
events  of  the  day  with  the  family  circle,  closing  the 
hours  with  friendly  chat,  as  he  had  opened  them  with 
worship.  He  was  fond  of  singing  and  talking,  as  people 
endowed  with  sympathetic  voices  usually  are.  At  home 
and  in  church  he  joined  in  and  led  the  music,  if  occasion 
required.  His  taste  was  simple,  hence  his  demands 
were  not  exorbitant. 

The  house  he  lived  in  was  a  large  square  mansion,  of 
wood,  which  stood  about  twenty-five  yards  from  the 
village  street  on  a  domain  of  some  thirty  acres.  It  was 
built  by  his  father  in  1799,  and  altered  in  1855.  A  wide 
hall  ran  through  it  from  front  to  back.  On  one  side  was 
the  general  parlor,  out  of  which  opened  a  small  conser- 


138  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

vatory ;  on  the  opposite  side  was  the  library,  a  room  of 
twenty  feet  square,  occupied  on  two  sides  with  plain 
shelves  containing  between  fifteen  hundred  and  two 
thousand  volumes.  The  dining-room  adjoined  the 
library;  the  kitchen  was  behind.  The  brick  office  where 
the  business  was  done  stands  a  few  yards  distant  from 
the  house.  The  sleeping  accommodation  was  abundant 
and  elastic.  As  many  as  twenty-two  guests  found  shel 
ter,  on  occasion,  beneath  the  roof.  All  the  rooms  were 
furnished  with  extreme  simplicity.  There  were  no  mir 
rors,  no  heavy  draperies,  costly  carpets,  luxurious  lounges 
or  chairs.  The  host  would  have  nothing  too  fine  for  the 
humblest  visitor.  A  few  common  prints  relieved  the 
bareness  of  the  walls  ;  two  or  three  family  portraits  hung 
in  the  more  private  rooms ;  an  old  Dutch  cattle  piece 
was  the  only  oil  painting  that  all  could  see,  and  that  few 
would  stop  to  look  at.  The  stately  portico  in  front  of 
the  house  suggested  a  grandeur  which  the  interior,  com 
fortable  and  pleasant  as  it  was,  did  not  carry  out.  The 
place  was  a  village  by  itself.  Some  thirty  buildings 
stood  on  the  domain.  The  farm,  garden,  stables,  shop, 
employed  a  considerable  force  of  men  in  several  capa 
cities,  for  the  estate  was  kept  in  excellent  condition, 
though  without  ostentation,  the  desire  to  employ  work 
men  being  quite  as  constraining  on  the  proprietor  as  the 
necessity  for  having  the  work  done. 

The  village  was  remote  from  the  centres  of  busy  life, 
retired  among  the  hills,  too  high  above  the  valley  level 
for  approach  by  railway.  The  opening  of  the  railroad 
through  Canastota,  nine  miles  distant,  depleted  Peter- 
boro  by  carrying  travellers  further  on,  and  making  it 
easier  to  get  away.  Previous  to  that,  the  village  was 


HUMANITY.  139 

thriving;  intelligent,  active  minded  people  lived  there; 
it  was  a  nucleus  of  popular  spirit ;  there  were  several 
churches,  there  was  an  academy,  a  well-patronized  hotel  ; 
public  meetings  were  frequent  and  alive.  Judge  Smith 
drew  and  kept  about  him  men  of  affairs  ;  Gerrit  Smith 
brought  people  of  prominence  in  political  life,  and  fresh 
ened  the  soul  of  the  place  with  discussions  on  matters 
of  general  concern.  At  present,  Peterboro  is  a  quiet, 
inert,  dull  village.  It  has  no  hotel,  no  activity,  no  in 
terest  for  traveller  or  sojourner.  To  play  croquet  on  the 
long  common  seems  to  tax  the  energies  of  the  middle 
aged  ;  to  sit  and  gossip  before  the  three  or  four  inefficient 
shops  on  the  street  is  the  occupation  of  the  elders.  The 
inhabitants  are  chiefly  retired  farmers  whose  wants  are 
of  the  fewest  and  whose  resources  are  about  equal  to  the 
satisfaction  of  their  wants.  A  few  families  of  blacks  sub 
sist  in  humble  dwellings.  The  meeting  houses  have 
been  abandoned,  or  have  changed  their  use.  The  Meth 
odists  alone  exhibit  vitality.  The  Baptist  meeting  house 
is  dilapidated.  The  Presbyterian  was  bought  by  Mr. 
Smith  and  converted  into  an  academy ;  the  upper  part  is 
transformed  into  a  public  hall.  The  Independent  chapel 
opens  its  doors  now  and  then  to  a  preacher  who  relies  on 
the  neighboring  villages  for  a  congregation.  Mr.  Greene 
Smith,  Gerrit's  only  son,  maintains  open  house  during  the 
summer,  does  what  he  can  to  preserve  alive  the  traditions 
of  hospitality,  and  keeps  up  there  the  spacious  and  at 
tractive  bird-house,  for  the  preservation  of  the  specimens 
he  had  procured  on  his  shooting  expeditions  in  all  parts 
of  the  country.  The  family  still  make  free  with  the 
mansion  and  grounds,  but  the  tide  of  strangers  comes 
no  more.  How  they  ever  came  to  the  remote  village, 


140  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

how  the  tide  ever  ran  so  high  above  the  plain  is  a  mys 
tery,  or  would  be  a  mystery,  did  we  not  know  what  at 
tractive  power  there  is  in  a  warm  heart.  Gerrit  Smith 
was  Peterboro,  and  would  have  been  found  out  had  he 
dwelt  among  Alpine  snows.  His  door  was  always  open  ; 
his  greeting  was  always  warm.  The  guest,  bidden  or  un 
bidden,  friend  or  stranger,  was  taken  in.  Hospitality 
was  not  irksome  to  him.  His  wife,  warm-hearted  and 
affectionate,  sympathetic  with  all  his  sentiments,  ideas 
and  purposes,  a  moral  and  spiritual  cooperator,  delicate 
of  constitution  and  poetic  in  temperament,  devolved 
upon  a  housekeeper  the  administration  of  the  large  es 
tablishment,  and,  as  her  part,  diffused  an  air  of  cheerful 
serenity  over  the  household.  "  Heaven  has  broke  loose  !  " 
the  husband  would  exclaim  when  the  wife  came  into  the 
breakfast  room.  The  younger  members  helped  the 
elders  in  the  discharge  of  the  day's  hospitable  tasks. 

The  diary  of  Gerrit  Smith  is  a  record  of  arrivals  and 
departures. 

"  A  man  calling  himself  George  Brown,  of  Corning,  comes  here 
to-night  with  a  very  heavy  pack  on  his  back.  He  is  accompanied 
by  his  wife  and  child.  The  child  is  deaf." 

"  Mrs.  Crampton,  a  beggar  woman,  spent  last  night  with  us. 
Charles  Johnson,  a  fugitive  slave  from  Hagerstown,  took  tea  at  our 
house  last  evening  and  breakfasted  with  us  this  morning." 

"  Mr.  William  Corning,  a  wandering  pilgrim,  as  he  styles  himself, 
dines  with  us.  He  is  peddling  his  own  printed  productions." 

"  Peter  Johnson,  a  colored,  illiterate  man,  calling  himself  a  mis 
sionary,  arrives  this  afternoon.  He  has  been  among  the  colored 
people  in  Canada,  and  is  going  to  Hayti." 

"  Mrs.  Phiak  of  Port  Byron,  a  poor  old  Dutch  woman,  arrives. 
She  leaves  after  breakfast.  A  begging  blind  man,  and  a  begging 
woman  and  her  son  from  Cazenovia  breakfast  at  our  house." 

"  Poor  Graham,  the  insane  literary  colored  man,  has  been  with 
us  a  day  or  two." 


HUMANITY.  141 

"  William  Henry  Douglass,  of  Paterson,  New  Jersey,  son  of 
Aaron  Douglass,  comes  to  our  house  this  morning-.  Says  he  is  nine 
teen  years  old,  and  ran  away  from  his  home  a  week  ago  last  Satur 
day.  Has  been  to  Buffalo,  repents  of  his  folly,  and  is  on  his  return 
home.  He  has  no  money.  I  gave  him  three  dollars  and  some  bread 
and  cheese.  He  breakfasts  with  us,  and  starts  for  home." 

"  Elder  Cook  and  William  Haines  of  Oneida  depot  arrive  this 
evening.  Mr.  H.  is  a  '  medium,'  and  speaks  in  unknown  tongues." 

"  Dr.  Winmer  of  Washington  City,  with  five  deaf  mutes  and  a 
blind  child  take  supper  and  spend  the  evening  with  us." 

"  We  find  Brother  Swift  and  wife  and  daughter  at  our  house, 
where  they  will  remain  until  they  get  lodgings.  There  come  this 
evening  an  old  black  man,  a  young  one  and  his  wife  and  infant. 
They  say  that  they  are  fugitives  from  North  Carolina." 

"  A  man  from brings  his  mother,  six  children  and  her  half 

sister,  all  fugitives  from  Virginia." 

"  An  Indian  and  a  fugitive  slave  spent  last  night  with  us.  The 
Indian  has  gone  on,  but  Tommy  McElligott  (very  drunk)  has  come 
to  fill  his  place." 

The  family  recollect  the  arrival  one  night — when  the 
house  was  dark,  of  a  woman  whose  trunk  burst  open  as 
it  was  flung  upon  the  steps.  Mr.  Smith  rose  and  an 
swered  the  bell,  courteously  welcomed  the  stranger  who 
announced  herself  as  a  claimant  on  his  hospitality,  and 
she  stayed  until  she  was  ready  to  go.  A  friend  tells  of 
the  arrival  simultaneously  with  himself  of  a  trance  me 
dium,  who,  after  the  usual  "  grace  "  by  the  host,  lifted 
up  her  voice  in  oracular  discourse.  Mr.  Smith  listened 
courteously  till  the  outbreak  had  spent  itself,  then  pro 
ceeded  with  the  meal.  The  family  did  not  profess  ad 
miration  or  partiality  for  this  tavernous  mode  of  social 
life  and  would  occasionally  object  to  the  master's  practice 
of  retiring  to  his  library  or  office  and  leaving  to  them 
the  entertainment  of  unbidden  guests.  But  the  law  of 
hospitality  must  be  respected.  The  visitor  was  never 
directly  told  to  go.  Occasions  are  recorded  in  which 


142  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

the  dismissal  was  indirectly  conveyed.  In  one  instance 
•when  the  claims  of  the  wanderer  had  been  overworked, 
and  the  household,  failing  after  due  lapse  of  time  to 
discover  the  angel  in  the  stranger  who  came  unawares, 
begged  the  good  man  to  speed  the  parting  guest,  the 
morning  prayer  contained  a  special  petition  that  the 
friend  who  was  about  to  leave  them  on  that  day  might  be 
brought  safely  on  his  way.  The  petition  was  heard,  and 
the  circle  was  diminished  by  one,  ere  evening. 

The  dinner-table  often  presented  a  motley  sight. 
The  bidding  of  the  New  Testament  was  fulfilled.  The 
highways  and  the  byways  were  represented  at  the  feast. 
High  and  low,  great  and  small,  wise  and  simple,  black 
and  white,  senators,  politicians,  farmers,  sat  down  to 
gether.  If  any  objected  to  promiscuous  association,  a 
side  table  was  provided  ;  but  few  went  into  the  exile. 
Says  one  who  knew  him  well : 

"  I  have  seen  eating  in  peace,  at  one  time,  at  dinner,  in  his  house 
— all  welcome  guests — an  Irish  Catholic  priest,  a  Hicksite  Quakeress 
minister,  a  Calvinistic  Presbyterian  deacon  of  the  Jonathan  Edwards 
school,  two  abolition  lecturers,  a  seventh-day  Baptist,  a  shouting 
Methodist,  a  Whig  pro-slavery  member  of  Congress,  a  Democratic 
official  of  the  '  Sam  Young  school,'  a  southern  ex-slave  holder  and 
a  runaway  slave,  Lewis  Washington  by  name,  also  his  wife,  one  or 
more  relatives,  and  'Aunt  Betsy  '  Kelty.  And  he  managed  them  all. 
Not  one  was  neglected.  He  did  the  honors  of  his  table,  carving  his 
meats  like  a  gentleman  bred,  and  to  the  manner  born  ;  conversing 
with  each  in  such  a  sweet  way  as  to  disarm  all  criticism,  and  making 
everyone  feel  lhat,  if  he  could  be  other  than  himself,  he  would  rather 
be  Gerrit  Smith  than  any  other  living  man." 

The  dining-room  being  of  moderate  size,  it  was  often 
necessary  to  spread  an  additional  table  in  the  long  hall. 
The  host  knew  no  distinction  of  persons.  The  board 
was  abundantly  but  simply  spread.  The  guest,  however 


HUMANITY.  143 

accustomed  to  the  daily  sherry  must  dispense  with  wine 
at  Gerrit  Smith's  table.  Of  that  best  of  vintage,  a  cor 
dial  welcome  and  cheery  conversation,  there  was  never 
lack,  and  they  who  once  had  the  privilege  of  sitting 
there  wished  they  might  often  repeat  it.  To  enjoy  it 
once  was  a  thing  to  be  long  remembered.  It  was  a  les 
son  in  practical  humanity  that  could  be  admired  by  those 
who  could  not  imitate  it.  Many  a  reformer  there  learned 
how  simple  was  the  problem  which  his  philosophy  could 
not  solve;  and  many  a  philanthropist  discovered  the  dis 
tinction  between  love  and  the  doctrine  of  love.  Not  to 
have  visited  Gerrit  Smith  at  home,  not  to  have  received 
his  hearty  greeting  at  the  door,  not  to  have  seen  him 
glowing  and  beaming  at  his  porch,  not  to  have  heard  his 
copious  table-talk  is  to  have  missed  one  of  the  satisfac 
tions  of  life. 


CHAPTER  V. 

TEMPERANCE. 

ERRIT  SMITH  was,  as  has  been  said,  in  the  full 
sense  of  the  word,  a  philanthropist ;  not  a  philan 
thropist  by  profession,  but  a  hearty  lover  of  his  fellow- 
men  ;  a  practical  lover ;  one  who  had  in  view  certain 
ends  to  be  promoted  by  all  the  means  at  his  command. 
These  ends  were  before  him  continually,  from  first  to 
last.  Hence  his  life  had  little  outward  variety ;  it  does 
not  divide  into  sections  or  episodes ;  dates  are  only  of 
incidental  moment.  The  story  is  the  story  of  a  character, 
and  is  best  told  in  a  way  to  exhibit  the  character. 

At  the  beginning  of  his  career,  Gerrit  Smith,  as  we 
know,  had  an  unbounded  popularity  in  his  neighborhood. 
Handsome,  engaging,  frank,  impulsive,  an  attractive 
speaker,  public  spirited,  rich,  and  of  recognized  ability, 
any  career  he  might  choose  was  open  to  him.  He  was 
not  without  personal  ambition  ;  used  to  approbation,  ad 
miration  and  applause,  he  loved  it.  His  sense  of  self- 
approval  was  keen  ;  his  desire  of  foreign  approbation  was 
strong.  He  enjoyed  the  feeling  that  he  lived  in  the 
world's  eye.  This  appears  in  an  address  to  the  elect 
ors  of  the  county  of  Madison,  written  in  the  winter  of 
i823~'24  by  "  Juvenis."  This,  which  he  characterized 
later  as  a  puerile  effort,  was  in  fact  an  earnest,  and  able 
plea  in  favor  of  direct  elections  by  the  people — a  plea  for 


TEMPERA  NCE.  145 

popular  government.  He  argues  that  the  existing  party 
names  are  meaningless,  that  the  party  issues  are  obsolete, 
that  the  machinery  of  caucus  nominations  and  political 
conventions  should  be  disused,  that  candidates  should 
place  themselves  on  their  merits,  and  be  accepted  on 
their  claims.  Demagogues  and  office-seekers  are  his 
detestation.  Corruption  and  bribery  in  his  judgment, 
arise  from  the  system  in  practice  and  threaten  republican 
institutions  with  overthrow.  The  remedy  he  proposes, 
"self-nomination  "  is  the  best  then  suggested.  The  end 
sought  is  the  redemption  of  politics  from  partisanship 
and  fraud,  the  election  to  office  of  the  best  men.  Hardly 
was  he  established  as  a  responsible  citizen  in  Peterboro 
before  he  was  solicited  to  stand  for  public  office.  At 
that  time — in  1826-' 7 — the  anti-masonic  fury  was  sweep 
ing  through  the  State.  He,  with  others,  caught  the  ex 
citement,  and  allowed  himself  to  be  placed  in  the  front 
rank  of  a  party,  as  candidate  for  State  senator.  The 
step  was  premature.  Whether,  as  some  think,  this  ex 
perience  disgusted  him,  or  whether,  as  is  more  likely,  he 
was  led  to  see  that  the  career  of  the  politician  was  not 
that  for  which  he  was  best  fitted,  certain  it  is  that  from 
that  time  he  was  averse  to  holding  office,  or  joining  any 
of  the  organized  parties.  He  used  politics  as  an  instru 
ment  of  reform,  but  would  never  be  fettered  by  them, 
and  never  would  permit  party  measures  to  be  primary  in 
his  regard.  His  hostility  to  Masonry,  and  to  secret  so 
cieties  of  all  kinds,  was  active  to  the  end  of  his  life,  on 
the  ground  that  they  were  inconsistent  with  the  genius 
of  republican  institutions.  Mr.  Smith  did  indeed  ac 
tively  engage  in  politics  as  will  be  told  in  the  appropriate 
place  :  he  accepted  nominations  for  office,  served  a  short 
7 


146  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

term  in  Congress,  ran  the  course  for  governor;  but  on 
every  occasion  his  conduct  showed  that  he  was  entirely 
destitute  of  political  ambition.  They  who  accuse  him 
of  that,  accuse  him  also  of  the  extreme  of  folly,  for  the 
course  he  pursued  was  the  one  course  that  was  certain 
to  be  unpopular. 

He  was  a  reformer:  how  single-hearted  a  reformer 
will  appear  as  the  story  goes  on.  The  omnipresent,  ob 
noxious  evil  of  his  time  and  neighborhood  was  intemper 
ance.  So  habitual  a  vice  was  this,  that  none  but  a  very 
sensitive  conscience  felt  it  at  all.  He  himself  in  the 
thoughtless  days  of  his  youth  looked  on  it  without  re 
proof,  and,  once  or  twice  in  college  is  said  to  have  tasted 
its  fascinations.  But  from  the  first  hour  of  his  responsi- 
.ble  manhood  till  the  end  of  his  life  he  stood  committed 
in  the  most  clear  and  resolute  way  to  the  war  against  it. 
His  action  was  of  every  sort,  personal  and  political,  pri 
vate  and  public,  domestic  and  civil.  He  used  all  the 
means  at  his  command  to  discourage  the  evil  and  di 
minish  it ;  he  withdrew  support  of  every  kind  from  those 
who  gave  it  countenance  or  maintenance.  A  total  ab 
stainer  himself,  he  carried  the  presence  and  the  power 
of  a  total  abstainer  wherever  he  went.  The  strength  of 
his  feeling  on  this  subject  comes  out  in  numerous  letters 
published  and  unpublished,  in  speeches  at  conventions, 
efforts  in  public  meetings,  remonstrances  with  church 
members,  endeavors,  early  and  late  and  strenuously 
pushed,  to  commit  the  authorities,  religious  and  social, 
to  the  suppression  of  the  traffic  in  intoxicating  drinks. 
This  would  seem,  from  the  large  place  it  held  in  his 
activities,  to  have  been  the  cause  dearest  to  his  heart. 
He  spoke  and  wrote  more  on  it  than  on  any  other. 


TEMPERANCE.  147 

His  interest  in  it  first  suggested  doubts  in  regard  to  the 
universal  and  permanent  validity  of  all  the  allowances 
and  prohibitions  of  Scripture. 

"  If  it  should  be  proven  to  me  most  clearly,"  he  wrote  to  Edward 
C.  Delavan,  in  1834,  "  that  God  intended  that  '  strong  drink  '  and  fer 
mented  liquors  should  be  drunk  by  his  rational  creatures  ;  and  that 
the  inhabitants  of  Canaan  and  of  many  other  parts  of  the  world  had 
and  still  have  a  perfect  right  to  drink  them,  I  would  still  deny  that 
we  have  a  right  to  drink  them.  I  would  say  that  we  have  so  abused 
these  mercies  by  our  inordinate  indulgence,  and  our  rioting  in  them 
—so  abused  our  bodies  and  our  souls  with  them — that  it  has  become 
necessary  for  us  to  be  deprived  of  them  altogether.  As  the  high  fed 
horse  is  turned  out  to  winter  at  the  stack,  that  he  may  recover  his 
natural  soundness,  and  as  the  diseased  glutton  is  compelled  to  sub 
mit  to  a  regimen  which  the  poorest  man  would  despise  ;  so  this 
dram-drinking  and  drunken  nation,  if  indeed  it  shall  be  allowed  in 
any  future  age,  the  beverages  which  I  have  supposed  it  to  be  possible 
that  other  nations  may  innocently  indulge  in,  must  first  be  deprived 
of  them  for  a  season,  until  it  may  get  back  to  the  healthy  state  from 
which  it  has  so  greatly  degenerated.  If  it  shall  ever  be  lawful  for 
the  people  of  the  United  States  to  take  up  the  wine  cup  again,  they 
must  previously  have  become  sober, — they  must  previously  have  rid 
themselves  of  the  plague  spots  and  madness  of  intemperance  through 
long  abstinence  from  the  cause  of  them, — they  must  previously  have 
recovered  from  the  deep  debasement  to  which  their  vile  sensuality 
has  reduced  them  ;  and  this  work  will  take  at  least  as  long  as  the 
present  generation  will  last.  So  I  see  no  prospect,  my  friend,  if 
you  and  I  shall  live  to  be  sixty  years  old,  that  we  shall  have  the 
liberty  of  drinking  each  other's  health  in  a  glass  of  wine  or  even  of 
cider.  Now,  if  my  speculation  in  this  paragraph  is  not  unsound,  and 
if  these  beverages  are  really  blessings,  we  see  that  our  intemperance, 
unfitting  us  for  the  safe  use  of  them,  even  in  moderate  quantities, 
draws  after  it,  in  this  respect,  no  small  punishment, — a  punishment 
of  which  we  can  find  abundant  illustrations  in  those  sufferings  and 
privations  of  manhood  which  are  induced  by  the  excesses  of  youth. 

"  The  advocates  of  wine  drinking  very  often  refer  us  to  the  tem 
perance  of  wine  drinking  countries.  I  believe  there  is  less  drunken 
ness  in  those  countries  than  amongst  us.  There  is  however,  enough 
of  it  in  them.  The  opinion  is  spreading,  I  know  not  how  justly, 
that  even  in  France,  so  proverbial  for  its  temperance,  wine  drinking 


14  LIFE   OF  GERRI7'  SMITH. 

produces  as  great  an  amount  of  injury  to  the  mind  and  body,  as  is 
produced  by  the  drinking  of  ardent  spirits  here.  But  even  if  wine 
countries  are  comparatively  temperate,  that  should  not  encourage  us 
to  endeavor  to  become  a  wine  country.  If  the  objections  on  the 
score  of  climate  and  soil  were  not  fatal  to  our  country  becoming 
such,  there  are  other  objections  that  are.  Wine,  to  become  the  com 
mon  beverage  of  all  classes  in  this  country,  must  be  afforded  at 
nearly  or  quite  as  low  a  price  as  cider. — Now,  if  we  had  a  soil  and 
climate  as  favorable  for  the  grape  as  France  has,  we  could  not  make 
wine  anything  like  as  low  priced  a  drink,  without  first  parting  with 
our  free  institutions,  which  dignify  and  elevate  our  laboring  classes, 
and  to  which  institutions,  more  than  to  all  other  causes,  they  are  in 
debted  for  their  high  wages  and  the  ample  rewards  for  the  products 
of  their  toil.  Before  this  can  become  a  wine  country  like  France, 
the  labor  of  a  man  must  be  reduced  to  a  shilling  or  two  a  day.  and 
the  wheels  of  civilization  must  revolve  backwards,  until  our  wives 
and  daughters  are  turned  into  cultivators  of  the  soil. — Where  is  the 
New  England  farmer,  who  would  be  pleased  to  see  his  wife  and 
daughters  laboring  for  their  subsistence  under  a  burning  sky,  and  by 
the  side  of  the  hardier  sex  ;  and  contracting  all  that  masculine  coarse 
ness  which  characterizes  the  women  of  the  laboring  classes  in  France  ? 
But,  if  all  these  objections  were  surmounted,  who  but  some  roman 
tic  wine  bibber,  would  be  glad  to  see  as  in  France,  large  portions  of 
our  land  covered  with  the  vine  ;  and  the  food  and  clothing  of  our 
grain  and  cotton  fields  diminished  in  order  to  make  room  for  the 
production  of  a  drink  that  never  yet  warmed  a  man's  back  or  kept 
him  from  starving  —  the  virtues  of  which,  unless  perhaps  when 
used  as  a  medicine,  are  imaginary — the  evils  of  which  are  incalcula 
ble — a  drink,  in  short,  which  the  world — at  least  in  its  present  cir 
cumstances — would  be  indescribably  better  without,  than  it  is  with  ? 
France,  Italy,  Spain  and  Portugal  are  the  great  wine  countries  ;  and 
no  other  nations  in  Christendom  are  half  so  low  as  they  are  upon  the 
scale  of  morals." 

Mr.  Smith  was  ready  at  all  times  to  meet  argument 
with  argument,  and  facts  with  facts ;  but  the  moral 
aspects  of  the  subject  interest  him  most. 

"  I  have  observed  with  pain,"  he  writes  to  John  Tappan,  of  Bos 
ton,  "  that  in  some  parts  of  the  country,  and  even  in  some  temper 
ance  papers,  the  doctrine  is  inculcated  that  intemperance  is  a 


TEMPERA  NCE.  1 49 

'misfortune,'  rather  than  a  '  crime  '  and  a  '  sin.'  The  tendency  of 
such  a  doctrine  to  multiply  cases  of  superficial  and  transient  refor 
mation  from  drunkenness,  and  to  spread  contempt  for  divine  truth 
is  obvious.  I  scarcely  need  add  that  this  doctrine  finds  no  favor  in 
this  neighborhood  ;  and  that  here  the  advocates  of  moral  reforms 
would  think  it  infinitely  more  absurd  to  attempt  to  carry  on  a  moral 
reformation  and  leave  God  out  of  it,  than  to  attempt  to  enact  the 
play  of  Othello,— and  leave  out  the  part  of  Othello." 

To  describe  in  detail,  Mr.  Smith's  action  in  the  tem 
perance  cause  would  take  more  space  than  is  warranted, 
and  would  be  unimportant.  His  efforts  began  as  early 
as  1828,  and  continued  to  the  end  of  his  life.  The 
Madison  County  temperance  society  was  organized,  on 
the  total  abstinence  principle,  in  1833.  The  same  year, 
on  May  7th,  he  delivered  an  address  to  the  same  effect 
at  a  convention  of  the  American  temperance  society, 
held  in  New  York.  The  same  year,  he  wrote  a  pam 
phlet  giving  an  account  of  thirty-eight  reformed  drunk 
ards  in  the  village  of  Peterboro.  In  1837,  he  complains 
to  Edward  C.  Delavan  of  a  decline  of  interest  in  the 
cause  of  temperance,  which  he  ascribes  mainly  to  laxity 
of  doctrine  on  the  part  of  its  friends.  The  cause  will 
never,  in  his  judgment  prevail,  till  the  use  of  ardent 
spirits  as  a  beverage  shall  be  declared  immoral,  public 
opinion,  church  usage,  and  bible  countenance  to  the 
contrary  notwithstanding.  The  precise  date  of  his  ex 
cepting  malt  liquors  and  wine  from  his  bill  of  proscription 
is  not  on  record. 

Gerrit  Smith's  main  reliance  in  this  as  in  other  move 
ments  for  the  reformation  of  society,  was  on  moral  in 
fluence.  His  faith  was  in  the  spiritual  affections  quick 
ened  by  divine  grace  acting  through  religious  belief  and 
practice.  All  regenerating  force  was,  in  his  opinion, 


LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

latent  in  the  moral  sentiments,  and  the  capacity  of  these, 
when  aroused,  was  simply  inexhaustible.  So  long  as  he 
believed  in  the  vitality  of  the  Calvinistic  system  of 
dogma  and  observance  as  a  means  for  bringing  the  di 
vine  power  to  bear,  he  held  to  it  and  used  it.  But  the 
moment  he  saw  that  the  Calvinistic  system  no  longer 
possessed  the  virtue  he  had  imputed  to  it  ;  the  moment 
he  perceived  that  it  did  not  quicken  the  souls  of  unre- 
formed  men,  he  sought  elsewhere  the  communicating 
link  between  human  nature  and  the  sources  of  life. 
The  necessity  of  that  communication  he  kept  in  mind, 
always.  The  immediateness  of  it  he  cherished.  The 
evidence  of  it  he  was  willing  to  see  in  all  men,  whatever 
their  mode  of  belief;  but  such  evidence  he  required 
before  he  would  give  sympathy  or  confidence. 

Hence  naturally  his  ultimate  faith  was  in  "  moral  sua 
sion."     This  is  a  specimen  of  his  style  of  talking  in  1843. 

"  Great  honor  is  accorded  to  our  town  for  having  led  the  way,  ten 
years  ago  in  the  reformation  of  drunkards  by  the  simple  and  sole 
means  of  kind  moral  influence.  Let  us  trust  to  this  influence  for 
reforming  the  dram-seller  also.  I  admit  that  we  have  already 
tried  it  on  him.  But  we  have  not  tried  it  to  the  extent  of  its  power  ; 
and  we  have  combined  legal  force  with  it.  Let  us  now  drop  the 
force,  and  confine  our  efforts  within  the  limits  of  persuasion. 

"  Shall  we  succeed  if  we  adopt  the  proposed  change  ?  The  an 
swer  to  this  question  turns  on  the  answer  to  the  question  whether 
we  shall  prove  ourselves  to  be  well  indoctrinated  and  hearty  in  the 
cause  of  temperance.  If  our  concern  for  this  cause  is  not  enough  to 
induce  us  to  plead  earnestly  and  frequently  with  the  dram-seller  to 
relinquish  an  occupation  which  beggars  families  and  breaks  hearts, 
and  kills  bodies  and  kills  souls — he  will  be  likely  to  continue  in  the 
occupation  of  blood-red  guiltiness.  And  frequent  and  seemingly  ear 
nest  as  may  seem  these  pleadings,  if  they  are  not  sustained  by  a 
corresponding  life,  they  will  fail  of  a  good  effect.  Let  no  man  flatter 
himself  that  he  is  contributing  to  breaking  up  dram-shops,  if  he 
spends  his  leisure  hours  in  them  ;  or  if  indeed  he  give  to  them  the 


TEMPERANCE.  !$! 

sanction  of  his  unnecessary  presence  for  a  single  moment.  Let  no 
man  think  that  his  influence  is  against  the  continuance  of  dram 
shops  if  he  cannot  respond  to  the  remark  of  the  celebrated  Judge 
Daggett  of  Connecticut,  that  they  deserved  to  be  classed  with  '  the 
depositories  of  stolen  goods/  and  to  have  inscribed  in  great  capitals 
over  their  doors  :  '  The  way  to  hell  going  down  to  the  chambers  "of 
death.'  Let  no  man  think  that  he  is  exerting  an  influence  against 
dram-shops  if  his  temperance  feeling  be  so  shallow  as  to  be  offended 
by  the  memorable  prediction  of  our  Chancellor  Walworth  that  '  the 
time  will  come  when  reflecting  men  will  no  more  think  of  making 
and  vending  ardent  spirits,  than  they  would  now  think  of  poisoning 
a  well  from  which  a  neighbor  obtains  water  for  his  family,  or  of 
arming  a  maniac  to  destroy  his  own  life  or  the  lives  of  those  around 
him.'  Let  me  add,  that  it  the  farmers  of  Smithfield  would  make  the 
evidences  of  their  heartfelt  temperance  irresistible  to  the  dram-seller, 
— as  irresistible  as  the  rays  of  a  summer's  sun  to  the  ice  on  which 
they  fall — let  them,  as  not  only  their  duty  but  their  interest  dictates, 
separate  themselves,  wholly  and  forever,  from  the  manufacture  of 
the  body  and  soul  destroying  poison." 

Madison  county  felt  Gerrit  Smith's  influence  in  this 
matter,  all  through.  Peterboro  was  a  small  village,  with 
a  population  of  between  three  and  four  hundred,  but 
through  his  influence  it  became  "  a  city  set  on  a  hill," 
visible  afar  off  by  people  who  imagined  it  a  large,  con 
spicuous  and  wealthy  town.  The  name  of  Peterboro' 
called  up  sentiments  that  filled  and  expanded  the  mind. 
Had  its  noble-hearted  inhabitant  been  a  shrewd  tac 
tician  he  would  have  carried  more  schemes,  but  he  would 
have  failed  to  make  so  large  an  impression.  His  whole 
souled  confidence  in  fine  principles,  and  in  the  essential 
right-mindedness  of  his  fellow  men,  made  him  the  victim 
of  sharpers ;  but  that  same  simple  heartfulness  was  an 
inspiration  to  good  people.  The  childlikeness  that  stood 
in  the  way  of  his  occasional  success,  was  the  source  of 
his  influence.  The  worldlings,  it  must  be  admitted,  en 
joyed  frequent  chuckles  at  his  expense. 


I  $2  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

To  give  an  instance.  For  many  years,  the  only 
tavern  in  the  village  stood  at  the  upper  end  of  it,  and 
received  the  patronage  of  the  drovers,  teamsters,  busi 
ness  and  other  travellers  who  passed  through  the  place. 
The  "  Old  Osgood  House  "  as  it  was  called,  was  not  con 
ducted  on  temperance  principles ;  on  the  contrary,  the 
greatest  source  of  income  was  the  bar ;  the  whiskey, 
which  then  cost  but  twenty  cents  a  gallon,  flowed  inces 
santly,  and  the  least  pecunious  could  afford  to  be  gen 
erously  tipsy.  The  noise  and  disorder  so  shocked  Mr. 
Smith  that  he  built  at  the  other  end  of  the  village,  near 
his  own  residence,  a  commodious  hotel,  supplied  it  with 
the  requisite  barns,  sheds,  and  out-door  conveniences, 
furnished  it  comfortably  throughout,  put  a  Bible  in  every 
room,  set  up  in  the  office,  instead  of  the  line  of  decan 
ters,  a  motto,  "  Temperance  and  the  Bible,"  gave  the 
use  of  it  all  to  one  David  Ambler,  of  Augusta,  on  condi 
tion  that  no  intoxicating  liquors  should  be  sold,  and  in 
augurated  the  first  temperance  hotel  of  which  there  is 
mention.  Though  the  new  inn  was  in  every  respect  su 
perior  to  the  old  tavern,  it  did  not  prove  a  successful,  or 
even  a  dangerous  rival.  The  people  who  loved  liquor, 
as  nearly  all  did,  then,  put  up  at  the  old  place.  The 
temperance  people,  on  the  groundless  pretext  that 
board  was  dearer  at  the  temperance  house,  but  really 
because  they  liked  the  gay  society,  or  did  not  wish  to  be 
peculiar,  or  were  too  lazy  to  leave  the  beaten  road,  did 
the  same.  At  the  end  of  two  years,  Mr.  Ambler  be 
came  discouraged  and  withdrew.  His  successors  fared 
no  better.  In  spite  of  all  the  attractions  of  cleanliness, 
quiet,  good  food,  courteous  treatment,  the  travelling 


TEMPERA  NCE.  153 

public  passed  by  the  door.    Finally  a  "  General"  M 

whom  Mr.  Smith  "  knew  "  and  had  employed,  made  an 
offer  for  the  property  which  was  accepted.  The  "  Gen 
eral  "  bought  the  old  hotel  property,  shut  up  the 
house,  transferred  the  keeper  to  the  new  inn,  took  out  a 
liquor  license,  and  Gerrit  Smith's  experiment  defeated 
itself.  Instead  of  crushing  the  monster,  he  had  given 
him  fresh  vitality ;  had  brought  him  to  his  very  door, 
within  a  few  feet  of  his  private  office  !  The  well-appointed 
tavern  became  the  most  popular  resort  for  tipplers  and 
vagabonds  in  the  whole  county.  The  discomfited  phi 
lanthropist,  driven  to  the  last  extremity,  could  only  de 
liver  himself  from  his  persecutors  by  buying  back,  of 
course  at  a  high  price,  the  property  he  had  already 
staked  so  much  on.  He  did  so ;  the  hotel  was  again 
conducted  for  a  time,  on  the  temperance  plan,  still  with 
out  encouragement.  The  travelling  public  patronized 
the  bar-rooms  of  other  villages  ;  Peterboro  lost  its  former 
visitors :  larger  and  more  thriving  places  took  the  cus 
tom  ;  the  buildings  were  removed  ;  the  foundations  were 
destroyed  ;  and  the  site  was  adopted  into  the  owner's 
private  grounds.  Thus  ends  the  story  of  Gerrit  Smith's 
Temperance  Hotel. 

Thus,  however,  did  not  end  the  design  to  expel  in 
temperance  from  Peterboro.  A  temperance  hotel,  near 
by  the  first,  continued  in  existence  till  the  time  of  his 
death.  He  presented  it  rent  free  to  the  lessee — sus 
tained  there  a  free  reading-room  and  gave  it  his  patron 
age  ;  but  it  never  succeeded — though  the  keeper  sold 
liquor  privately,  and  there  was  no  other  hotel  in  the  vil 
lage.  Temperance  hotels,  for  natural  reasons,  do  not 
thrive  in  competition  with  inns  where  the  exhilarations 
7* 


154  LIFE   OF  CERRIT  SMITH. 

and  excitements  of  alcohol  can  be  enjoyed.  Temper 
ance  is  associated  still  with  a  low  condition  of  ani 
mal  spirits.  Even  in  Oswego,  where  Mr.  Smith  estab 
lished  a  hotel  on  temperance  principles,  the  property 
yielded  nothing.  No  charm  of  situation,  no  excellence 
of  accommodations,  no  influence  from  the  proprie 
tor's  name  made  amends  for  the  absence  of  nervous 
stimulus. 

The  prohibitory  law  known  as  the  "  Maine  Law  "  was 
passed  in  1851,  and  was,  for  several  years,  the  model  for 
imitation  by  those  who  were  of  opinion  that  the  gov 
ernment  should  interfere  to  forbid  the  manufacture  and 
sale  of  ardent  spirits.  Gerrit  Smith  was  one  of  these, 
and  interested  himself  much  in  the  adoption  of  the 
measure  by  his  native  State.  His  industry  as  writer 
and  speaker  was,  as  it  always  was  when  his  heart  was 
engaged,  active  and  incessant.  His  efforts  to  create 
public  sentiment,  and  control  legislation  at  Albany, 
were  unremitting,  as  the  entries  in  his  diary  and  the 
clippings  in  the  scrap-book  testify.  His  heart  was  full 
of  the  subject,  and  his  whole  nature  followed  his  heart. 
Not  blindly  however ;  he  was  no  impulsive  enthusiast; 
a  strong  practical  common  sense  saved  him  at  last  from 
a  confusion  of  ideas  into  which  social  reformers  are  so 
often  betrayed.  But  he  had  no  hesitation  about  calling 
on  the  legal  authority  when  it  was  likely  to  reinforce  the 
dictates  of  conscience.  His  theory  of  the  province  of 
law  was  simple.  Not  to  open  at  present  his  whole  doc 
trine  of  government  duty — his  view  on  this  point  may 
be  stated  briefly  and  tersely  in  his  own  language  in  1851. 
Such  language  is  familiar  to  all  who  have  read  his  writ 
ings,  or  heard  his  speech.  The  substance  of  it  came  over 


TEMPERA  NCE.  1 5  5 

and  over  like  the  points  in  an  orthodox  sermon.  Gov 
ernment,  he  called  "a  huge  bull  dog,"  guarding  the 
house  against  thieves. 

"  Perhaps  it  will  be  asked  if  the  duty  of  abolishing  the  traffic  in 
intoxicating  drinks  would  not  be  outside  of  the  province  of  govern 
ment.  I  answer  that  it  would  not.  I  ask  government  to  abolish 
this  traffic,  not  because  I  would  have  government  enact  sumptuary- 
laws — for  I  would  not.  Nay,  I  go  so  far  as  to  say,  that  if  the  drink 
ers  of  intoxicating  liquors  would  do  no  more  than  kill  themselves,  I 
would  not  have  government  interfere  with  their  indulgence.  It  is 
murder,  not  suicide,  that  I  would  have  government  concern  itself 
with.  Nor  do  I  ask  government  to  abolish  this  traffic  because  I  hold 
that  government  is  charged  with  the  care  of  the  public  morals.  As 
I  have  already  shown  you,  I  hold  to  no  such  thing.  Why  I  ask 
government  to  abolish  this  traffic  is  because  it  is  fraught  directly, 
immensely,  necessarily,  with  wide  and  awful  peril  to  person  and 
property.  Neither  property  nor  life  is  safe  from  the  presumption, 
the  blindness  and  the  fury  of  the  drunken  maniac.  The  drunken 
driver  upsets  the  stage.  The  drunken  engineer  blows  up  the  steam 
boat.  It  is  a  drunkard  who  has  ravished  our  wife  or  daughter  or 
sister.  It  is  a  drunkard  who  has  burned  our  dwelling.  It  is  a 
drunkard  who  has  murdered  our  family.  What  is  a  crime  then,  if 
the  traffic  in  intoxicating  drinks  is  not  one?  And  what  crime  is 
there,  from  which  government  should  be  more  prompt  to  shelter  the 
persons  and  possessions  of  its  subjects." 

This  argument  applies  only  to  the  drink  that  mad 
dens  ;  it  does  not  touch  the  drink  which,  however  harmful 
in  other  respects,  is  not  an  active  source  of  danger  to 
the  community.  If  the  Frenchman  can  show  that  his 
light  wines  are  not  responsible  for  the  riotous  spirit  that 
disturbs  the  peace  ;  if  the  German  can  show  that  his  beer 
is  not  responsible  for  the  midnight  violence  or  the 
crowded  jail ; — then  wine  and  beer  are  exempted  from 
the  application  of  the  statute.  The  objection  to 
sumptuary  laws  is  impertinent. 

"  I  had  always  understood  that  the  temperance  societies  forbid  the 


156  LIFE   OF  G  ERR  IT  SMITH. 

drinking,  not  of  all  liquors  in  which  there  is  alcohol,  but  of  those 
only  which  actually  intoxicate.  It  is  true  that  small  beer  contains  a 
little  alcohol.  So  does  new  bread.  But  neither  intoxicates  ;  and 
therefore  neither  falls  under  the  proscription  of  the  temperance  so 
cieties.  But  even  if  the  temperance  societies  were  to  forbid  the 
drinking  of  all  alcoholic  liquors,  as  well  those  that  do  not  as  those 
that  do  intoxicate,  most  unreasonable  would  it  be  nevertheless  to  call 
on  government  to  prohibit  the  traffic  in  liquors  which  do  not  intoxi 
cate  the  drinker." 

This  was  written  to  a  prohibitionist  journal  in  1858. 
Again,  writing  to  a  severe  prohibitionist  clergyman,  the 
same  year,  he  says  : 

"  Let  me  here  say  that  I  do  not  hold  that  the  sale  of  all  kinds  of 
beer  and  wine  is  to  be  proscribed  by  government — though  I  would 
that  all  possessed  the  clear  proof  that  I  do,  (after  an  experience  of 
thirty  years)  that  good  water  is  the  only  good  drink.  What  I  do 
hold  is  that  the  government  should  prohibit  the  sale  for  a  drink  of 
all  those  liquors  which  make  madmen,  and  which  therefore  put  in 
constant  peril  life  and  property;  and  fill  the  newspaper  columns 
with  accounts  of  murdered  wives  and  murdered  children,  wrecked 
ships  and  wrecked  cars,  burnt  stores  and  burnt  dwellings.  It  is  a 
deep  delusion  where  it  is  not  a  wicked  pretext,  which  classes  such 
prohibition  with  sumptuary  laws.  What  if  there  were  brought  into 
the  markets  of  the  world  a  newly  discovered  fruit,  the  maddening  ef 
fects  of  which  should  be  in  kind  and  degree  like  those  of  the  liquors  in 
question?  Would  not  all  reasonable  men  be  in  favor  of  the  imme 
diate  governmental  prohibition  of  the  sale  of  it  ?  Certainly  : — and 
none  would  have  the  face  to  call  the  prohibition  a  sumptuary  law. 
Why  then  should  the  prohibition  in  the  case  of  liquors  fall  under 
that  odious  name  ?  The  force  of  habit  accounts  for  all  this  glaring 
inconsistency." 

Writing,  in  1852,  after  a  defeat  in  the  legislature  of 
the  "  Maine  Law,"  he  says  to  Edward  C.  Delavan,  his 
correspondent,  one  of  the  patriarchs  of  temperance  : 

44  How  could  you,  my  dear  friend,  bring  yourself  to  help  defeat  a 
law  which  the  world  is  in  such  perishing  need  of?  The  answer  is 
at  hand.  In  common  with  almost  all  men — good  men  as  well  as 


TEMPERANCE.  1 57 

bad — you  will  have  it  that  Civil  Government  is  not  of  God.  It  would 
seem  as  if  this  were  the  last  delusion  which  Christians  are  willing  to 
have  torn  from  them.  I  have  done  many  things  which  make  me 
odious  to  Christians.  But  nothing  has  had  this  effect  so  much  as 
my  endeavors  to  have  Civil  Government  regarded — both  theoretically 
and  practically — as  of  God.  To  have  it  thus  regarded  was  the  ob 
ject  of  those  discourses,  which,  when  I  was  much  younger  and 
stronger  than  I  am  now,  I  was  in  the  practice  of  delivering  before 
large  assemblies  in  groves  and  on  Sunday.  Christians  did  not 
thank  me  for  these  discourses.  So  far  from  it,  they  made  them  the 
occasion  for  stigmatizing  me  with  '  preaching  politics,'  and  with 
being  a  Sabbath  breaker  !  an  infidel !  !  and  a  demagogue  !  !  !  In 
deed,  my  bad  reputation,  at  this  day,  is  owing  far  less  to  all  other 
causes  put  together  than  to  those  out-of-door  Sunday  discourses 
in  behalf  of  the  position  that  Civil  Government  is  of  God." 

The  "  Anti-Drain-Shop  Party  "  was  formed  at  Smith- 
field,  February  21,  1842,  at  Gerrit  Smith's  call.  His 
whole  heart  was  in  it.  For  a  time  his  private  letters 
were  enclosed  in  envelopes  bearing  a  hideous  picture  of 
the  interior  of  a  dram  shop.  His  lecturing  tours  ex 
tended  to  every  county  in  the  State.  On  winter  nights 
he  came  and  went,  braving  cold  and  tempest,  wading 
through  deep  snows  where  the  road  was  impassable  to 
horse  and  wagon.  His  published  correspondence  on  the 
matter,  at  this  period,  as  the  scrap  books  bear  witness, 
was  voluminous.  The  emphasis,  at  this  time,  was  laid 
on  the  duty  of  bringing  the  force  of  moral  sentiment  to 
bear  through  the  officers  of  the  law.  In  1843,  persuaded 
of  the  extreme  difficulty  of  this  task,  he  returns  to  the 
reliance  on  moral  earnestness,  and  exhorts  the  lovers  of 
their  fellow-men  to  increased  fidelity  in  the  work  of  sav 
ing  souls  from  this  death.  But  in  1871  the  Anti-dram- 
Shop  Party  was  alive. 

Thus,  once  more,  Gerrit  Smith  was  a  pioneer  in  radi 
cal  reform.  The  movement  to  plant  religion  upon  purely 


158  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

spiritual  foundations,  detaching  it  from  external  author 
ity  whether  of  church,  dogma  or  book,  separating  it  from 
the  State  and  from  the  sect,  the  movement  known 
now  as  Free  Religion,  was  positively  inaugurated  by 
him,  and  illustrated  in  his  chapel  at  Peterboro.  The 
practical  attitude  of  the  temperance  reform,  which  is 
peculiar  in  its  freedom  from  fanaticism,  which  aimed 
at  the  suppression  of  tangible  mischiefs  by  the 
force  of  public  opinion  expressed  in  law,  an  atti 
tude  in  these  later  days  assumed  as  a  novelty  and 
with  some  show  of  bravery,  was  taken  by  him 
twenty-five  years  ago,  argued,  defended,  enforced  with 
a  clearness  of  statement  that  left  little  to  be  added 
and  with  a  determination  of  purpose  that  knew  no 
wavering. 

That  the  man  was  greatly  indebted  in  this  to  the 
prestige  of  wealth  and  of  social  position,  is  conceded. 
But  neither  wealth  nor  social  position  would  have  car 
ried  him  through  or  kept  him  up,  if  he  had  not  been  a 
man  of  great  intellectual  and  moral  power,  of  strong 
convictions  and  indomitable  will,  single-hearted  and  sim 
ple.  For  in  the  stand  he  took  he  was  often  alone,  and 
not  alone  merely  but  lonely ;  friends  on  whose  judgment 
and  courage  he  in  most  things  relied — the  only  friends 
he  had  who  were  entitled  to  be  called  his  peers  and 
brothers  in  arms,  disapproved  his  course,  privately  con 
demned  and  even  publicly  assailed  him  ;  friends  whom 
he  acknowledged  to  be  his  superiors  in  intellect  and 
character  withdrew  from  his  side.  Still  he  remained  firm 
to  his  conviction,  firm  and  at  the  same  time  cheerful 
and  gentle,  forbearing  and  loving.  They  may  call  it 


TEMPERA  NCE.  159 

egotism  who  will.  Such  egotism  when  exhibited  on  the 
popular  side  is  usually  called  saintliness.  He  submitted 
his  will  to  what  with  him  was  nothing  less  than  the  will 
of  the  Supreme.  The  seat  of  that  Supreme  will  was  his 
private  heart. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

SLAVERY. 

ERRIT  SMITH  was  born  two  years  before  the 
Act  of  Emancipation  was  passed  by  the  legislature 
of  New  York,  by  which  all  children  born  after  the  year 
1799  were  free, — the  males  on  reaching  the  age  of 
twenty-eight,  the  females  on  reaching  the  age  of  twenty- 
five.  During  his  youth,  therefore,  and  past  the  date  of 
his  second  marriage,  he  was  the  son  of  a  slave  holder. 
The  slavery  he  grew  up  with  was  of  mild  type,  but  on 
that  account  the  better  calculated  to  reveal  the  common 
humanity  of  the  white  and  black  races.  The  northern 
farmer  was  not,  as  a  rule,  aristocratic,  overbearing,  labor 
hating  or  sumptuous.  He  did  not  pass  a  life  of  idleness, 
or  of  devotion  to  politics  as  the  southern  "  gentleman  " 
did.  He  was  a  practical  director,  if  not  an  actual  sharer 
of  the  labor  on  his  farm.  His  slaves  were  brought  into 
close  daily  contact  with  him  and  were  more  or  less  as 
similated  to  him  by  the  association.  There  was  little 
actually  revolting  in  the  relation  between  owner  and 
serf  under  these  circumstances.  At  the  same  time,  and 
for  this  very  reason,  the  relation  itself  appeared  an  un 
natural  one,  and  the  occasional  abuses  of  it  by  exact 
ing,  violent  or  careless  masters,  revealed  the  possibility 
of  evil  in  it.  The  degradation  of  the  slave  was  not 
sufficient  to  make  him  contemptible,  and  the  injustice 


SLAVERY.  1. 6 1 

was  sufficient  to  exasperate  a  sensitive  mind.  Young 
Smith  early  disclosed  his  sympathy  with  the  subject 
race,  his  sense  of  the  wrong  done  them  by  their  social 
condition,  his  faith  in  their  capacities,  and  his  determi 
nation  to  do  what  he  could  for  their  elevation.  Natu 
rally,  his  views  were  moderate,  his  feelings  quiet.  The 
first  wave  of  moral  indignation,  started  in  Kentucky, 
Tennessee,  North  Carolina,  Maryland,  by  Benjamin 
Lundy,  soon  reinforced  by  William  Lloyd  Garrison,  did 
not  reach  his  quiet  village  home. 

On  the  loth  day  of  June  1828,  Mr.  Smith  attended 
the  State  Convention,  held  to  nominate  a  President  and 
Vice  President  of  the  United  States.  This  was  his  second 
participation  in  general  politics,  the  first  being  on  occa 
sion  of  the  State  Convention  at  Utica,  Sept.  21,  1824,  to 
nominate  De  Witt  Clinton  to  the  office  of  governor. 
The  exciting  subjects  at  this  time  were  matters  of  State 
improvement,  the  development  of  the  canals  in  par 
ticular,  which  Clinton  strongly  favored.  In  1828-,  na 
tional  issues  were  presented,  and  some  allusion  to  sla 
very, — if  not  some  declaration  about  it,  at  least  some 
indication  of  feeling, — might  have  been  expected.  The 
two  opposing  candidates  for  the  presidency  were  John 
Quincy  Adams  and  Andrew  Jackson.  Yet,  in  the  mas 
terly,  comprehensive,  patriotic,  even  splendidly  brilliant 
address,  prepared  by  Gerrit  Smith,  and  unanimously 
accepted  by  the  delegates  in  convention, — an  address 
preferred  by  the  committee  to  the  productions  of  Am 
brose  Spencer  and  Edmund  H.  Pendleton,  intellectual 
magnates  of  the  State — scarcely  a  passing  mention  is 
made  of  slavery, — and  not  even  a  passing  mention  is 
made  of  it  as  a  source  of  national  danger.  Mr.  Adams 


162  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

is  warmly  commended  for  moderate,  enlightened  views 
of  statesmanship ;  Mr.  Clay  is  eulogized  in  glowing 
terms,  for  his  unselfish  patriotism,  his  "  holy  zeal  for  the 
rights  of  man,"  his  devotion  in  the  cause  of  suffering 
Greece,  and  his  share  in  "  the  merciful  efforts  that  are 
making  to  colonize  our  emancipated  blacks  on  the 
coasts  of  Africa,  and  to  kindle  up  there  those  fires  of 
civil  and  religious  liberty,  which  are  soon  to  blaze  over 
that  benighted  land  ;  "  and  Mr.  Jackson  is  condemned 
as  the  incarnation  of  the  violent,  military,  usurping  spirit 
so  radically  inconsistent  with  republican  institutions. 
Dangers  are  hinted  at,  such  dangers  as  a  young  republic 
might  be  exposed  to  from  despotism  at  home  and 
abroad,  but  no  peril  is  apprehended  from  the  institution 
of  slavery. 

At  this  period  of  his  life  the  Colonization  Society, 
the  suggestion  of  Charles  Fenton  Mercer  in  1816,  a 
creation  of  "  Virginia  Principles,"  whereof  Henry  Clay 
was  president,  had  Mr.  Smith's  entire  confidence.  The 
Tappans,  Arthur  and  Lewis,  had  begun  to  distrust  it  : 
Daniel  Webster,  in  1825,  had  retired  from  a  meeting 
held  in  Boston  for  the  purpose  of  organizing  an  auxiliary 
society,  with  the  remark  :  "  Gentlemen,  I  will  have  noth 
ing  more  to  do  with  the  meeting ;  for  I  am  satisfied  it  is 
merely  a  plan  of  the  slaveholders  to  get  rid  of  the  free 
negroes."  *  The  intelligent  blacks  saw  through  it. 
Honest  men  of  the  south,  like  John  Randolph  and  Hen 
ry  A.  Wise,  made  no  secret  of  its  character.  Its  found 
ers  in  plain  language  avowed  the  contempt  for  the  free 
blacks  on  which  the  society  was  based,  Mr.  Clay  and 
Bushrod  Washington  showing,  the  former  by  words,  the 

*  Wilson's  "  Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Slave  Power."     i.  p.  219. 


SLA  VER  Y.  1.63 

latter  by  deeds,  a  cordial  agreement  with  Gen.  Mercer 
on  this  cardinal  point.  But  piety  outran  prudence.  Or 
thodox  ministers  and  laymen  in  the  most  enlightened 
States,  fascinated  by  the  prospect  of  planting  the  gospel 
in  Africa,  overlooked  the  ugly  features  of  the  plan.  Dr. 
Leonard  Bacon,  the  eminent  divine  of  New  Haven, 
accepted  office  in  the  society,  and  commended  it  as  "  a 
society  for  the  establishment  of  a  colony  on  the  coast  of 
Africa,"  admitting  in  the  same  breath,  that  it  was  not  a 
society  for  the  abolition  of  slavery,  nor  a  society  for  the 
improvement  of  the  blacks,  nor  a  society  for  the  sup 
pression  of  the  slave  trade.*  Even  William  Lloyd  Gar 
rison  delivered  an  address  before  the  Colonization  So 
ciety  in  1829,  which  contained  no  criticism  on  its  pur 
poses  and  methods,  though  the  feeling  with  which  he 
spoke  of  the  wrongs  and  woes  of  the  slaves  foreshadowed 
the  exposure  that  soon  followed.  Gerrit  Smith,  a  fervent 
"  evangelical,"  a  devout  believer  in  the  Calvinistic  sys 
tem,  and  a  zealous  promoter  of  the  cause  of  "  Gospel 
Truth,"  was  detained  longer  than  others  were,  in  the 
deftly  woven  snares  of  the  slaveholders. 

Signs  of  an  impending  change  of  view  appear  in  the 
Diary,  in  1834. 

July  8.  "  Elder  John  Loyd,  a  native  of  the  West  Indies,  drinks 
tea  with  us.  He  this  evening  presents  in  our  church  the  claims  of 
Africa.  Upwards  of  ten  dollars  are  contributed.  Elder  Loyd,  his 
wife  and  their  four  children,  are  to  go  to  Africa  this  season.  He  is 
sent  by  the  Methodist  church  as  a  missionary." 

July  12.  "I  attended  this  evening  the  meeting  in  which  our  town 
Anti-slavery  Society  was  organized.  The  constitution  is  good. 
Nevertheless  I  did  not  join  the  Society.  I  think  I  cannot  join  the 
Anti-slavery  Society  as  long  as  the  war  is  kept  up  between  it  and 

*  Wilson,  i.  p.  215. 


l4  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

the  American  Colonization  Society — a  war,  however,  for  which  the 
Colonization  Society  is  as  much  to  blame  as  the  other  Society." 

September  2,  1835.  "  We  returned  to  Utica  in  time  to  attend  a 

great  anti-abolition  meeting.  My  friend  J.  A.  S made  a  good 

speech  in  it — in  the  main  very  good.  The  proceedings,  aside  from 
this  speech,  were  not  agreeable  to  my  feelings.  Christian  morality 
did  not  characterize  them." 

August  29,  1835.  "  Every  mail  of  late  brings  accounts  of  the  law 
less,  riotous,  murderous  spirit  which  is  prevailing  over  the  land.  .  .  . 
Defend,  oh  Lord,  the  cause  of  the  oppressed.  The  friends  of  the 
righteous  doctrine  of  immediate  emancipation  are  sorely  pressed  at 
this  time.  Surround  my  dear  friend  Birney  with  the  arms  of  thy  love 
and  protection,  and  shelter  beneath  the  wings  of  thy  mercy,  that  pre 
cious  child  of  God,  Charles  Stuart." 

The  storm  had  been  rising  for  several  years.  In  the 
fall  of  1831  a  meeting  of  the  friends  of  the  slave  was 
called  at  the  Baptist  church  on  West  Genesee  Street, 
Syracuse.  At  the  hour  named,  fifteen  or  twenty  per 
sons,  among  them  Gerrit  Smith,  were  seen  wending  their 
way  to  the  place.  Suddenly  the  little  band  of  reformers 
were  assailed  by  a  select  mob,  and  pitilessly  pelted  with 
eggs  in  that  melancholy  condition  of  decay  that  best 
qualifies  them  to  express  derision.  The  unexpectedness 
and  fury  of  the  attack  rendered  a  retreat  advisable  ;  Mr. 
Smith  and  his  companions  repaired  in  disarray  to  the 
neighboring  village  of  Fayetteville.  There  they  held 
their  meeting,  passed  their  resolutions,  denounced  in 
plain  terms  the  outrage  that  had  been  put  upon  them, 
and  pledged  themselves  to  new  fidelity  to  the  black 
man's  cause.  No  public  man  condemned  the  assault ; 
the  press  of  Syracuse  on  the  whole  applauded  the  deed. 
The  popular  feeling  was  on  the  side  of  the  mob. 

On  the  2 1st  October,  1835,  the  State  Anti-slavery 
Convention  was  held  at  Utica.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smith  had 
left  home  in  the  morning,  purposing  to  attend  the  meet- 


SLAVERY.  165 

ing  and  then  go  on  to  Schenectady  to  visit  his  father. 
Scarcely  had  the  meeting  been  called  to  order  when  dis 
turbances  began  ;  the  mob  crowded  in,  interrupted  the 
proceedings  with  yells  and  abuse,  threatened  violence 
if  the  speakers  went  on,  and  utterly  defeated  their  pur 
pose.  Mr.  Smith,  who  was  there  merely  as  a  spectator, 
sprang  to  his  feet,  protested  against  the  interruption, 
declared  that  he  was  no  "  abolitionist "  but  that  he 
loved  fair  play,  and,  failing  to  allay  the  tumult  or  prevent 
the  dispersion  of  the  assembly,  invited  the  convention 
to  adjourn  to  Peterboro  where  they  should  hold  an  un 
disturbed  meeting  the  next  day ;  then  he  turned  back 
instead  of  going  on  as  he  had  purposed.  At  about 
ten  o'clock  the  peaceful  household  were  roused  by 
the  master  and  mistress,  (who  had  driven  nearly  all  the 
way  in  the  rain),  and  were  set  to  making  active  prepa 
rations  for  the  entertainment  of  an  indefinite  number  of 
guests.  The  night  was  spent  in  mixing  bread,  grinding 
coffee,  paring  apples  for  pies,  baking  rolls  and  providing 
the  other  necessaries  of  hospitality.  At  about  three 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  Mr.  Smith  appeared  in  the 
kitchen,  with  pen,  ink  and  paper,  asked  for  a  stand  and 
an  extra  candle,  and  poured  his  hot  soul  into  the  reso-i 
lutions  to  be  presented  and  the  speech  that  was  to  sup 
port  them.  In  the  morning  the  guests  straggled  in. 
About  thirty  arrived  in  season  for  breakfast.  They  were 
in  a  sorry  plight  from  the  mud  and  rain,  the  hard  jour 
ney,  and  the  persecutions  of  the  enemy  who  pursued 
them  as  far  as  they  could.  The  younger  men  turned  the 
matter  into  sport;  but  the  elders  found  the  experience 
a  hard  one.  The  day  was  beautiful ;  the  convention  was 
well  attended  by  three  or  four  hundred  delegates  ;  Gerrit 


1 66  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

Smith  entertained  seventy  or  eighty  at  dinner,  a  hun 
dred  or  more  at  tea,  and  with  the  help  of  sofas,  lounges 
and  softened  boards  gave  rest  at  night  to  some  forty 
tired  bodies.  His  was  the  great  speech  of  the  day,  his 
were  the  thrilling  resolutions,  and  he  was  the  convert  of 
the  occasion  ;  not  the  only  one  probably,  for  a  flood  of 
enthusiasm  took  the  village  off  its  feet,  but  the  chief  one 
in  the  whole  State.  From  this  hour  his  stand  was  taken 
with  the  Anti-slavery  Society. 

October  25,  Sabbath.  "The  Lord  carry  much  instruction  to  my 
mind  and  heart  from  the  scenes  of  the  past  week,  and  may  He  teach 
me,  and  enable  me  to  rely  on  Himself  for  protection  in  all  the  perils 
that  surround  and  threaten  me.  The  Lord  inspire  my  heart  with 
holy  courage.  The  Lord  make  me  His  humble,  confiding,  holy  little 
child,  and  profit  greatly  my  dear  wife  by  the  instructive  providences 
through  which  we  are  passing." 

How  great  was  the  change  through  which  Mr.  Smith 
suddenly  passed  will  be  perceived  from  the  following 
letter  addressed  to  the  secretary  of  the  American  Colo 
nization  Society  in  November,  one  month  after  the  scene 
just  described.  It  is  a  model  of  frankness,  courtesy  and 
magnanimity. 

Peterboro,  November  34,  1835. 

REV.  R.  R.  GURLEY,  Secretary  of  American  Colonization  Society. 

My  Dear  Friend, — Great  as  the  pleasure  would  be  to  me  of 
meeting,  at  the  approaching  Anniversary  of  the  American  Coloniza 
tion  Society,  with  my  beloved  fellow  laborers  in  the  cause  of  African 
Colonization,  I  must  not,  for  this  alone,  make  a  journey  to  Wash 
ington.  Could  I  connect  with  the  anticipation  of  this  pleasure  the 
prospect  of  gaining  over  the  Society  to  the  views  which  I  have  so 
long,  but  in  vain,  pressed  upon  its  adoption,  the  journey  would  then 
be  made  most  cheerfully ;  but  the  present  circumstances  and  com 
plexion  of  the  Society  afford  anything  but  such  a  prospect. 

You  well  know,  my  dear  sir,  how  faithfully  I  labored,  at  the  An 
niversary  of  the  Society  in  January,  1834,  and  for  a  year  before  ;  and 


SLAVERY.  167 

how  much  I  have  written  to  that  end  since,  to  bring  back  the  Society 
to  its  constitutional  and  neutral  ground,  respecting  the  subject  of 
slavery.  The  ineffectualness  of  these  efforts  is  manifest  in  the  fact, 
that  the  Society  is  now,  and  has  been  for  some  time,  far  more  inter 
ested  in  the  question  of  slavery  than  in  the  work  of  colonization— in 
the  demolition  of  the  Anti-slavery  Society,  than  in  the  building  up  of 
its  colony.  I  need  not  go  beyond  the  matter  and  spirit  of  the  last 
few  numbers  of  its  periodical  for  the  justification  of  this  remark. 
Were  a  stranger  to  form  his  opinion  by  these  numbers,  it  would  be, 
that  the  Society  issuing  them  was  quite  as  much  an  anti-abolition,  as 
colonization  society:  and  this  would  be  his  opinion  of  a  society,  which 
has  not  legitimately  anything  to  do  with  slavery,  either  as  its  op 
ponent  or  advocate — of  a  society  of  which  I  said  in  my  speech  be 
fore  it,  in  January  1834,  and  justly,  I  believe,  that  "such  is,  or  rather 
such  should  be  its  neutrality,  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  that  its  mem 
bers  may  be  free,  on  the  one  hand,  to  be  slaveholders  ;  and  on  the 
other  to  join  the  Anti-slavery  Society."  It  has  come  to  this,  how 
ever,  that  a  member  of  the  Colonization  Society  cannot  advocate  the 
deliverance  of  his  enslaved  fellow-men,  without  subjecting  himself 
to  such  charges  of  inconsistency,  as  the  public  prints  abundantly 
cast  on  me,  for  being  at  the  same  time  a  member  of  that  Society  and 
an  abolitionist. 

It  was  not  until  some  six  or  eight  months  since,  that  I  began  to 
despair  of  seeing  the  Colonization  Society  cease,  within  any  short 
period,  if  ever,  from  its  interference  with  the  subject  of  slavery.  No 
more  than  a  year  ago,  and  I  was  still  confident  that  the  Society  would 
retrace  its  errors,  and  be  again  simply  a  Colonization  Society:  and 
then  how  soon  a  harmonious,  successful  and  glorious  Society ! 

I  still  owe  a  considerable  sum  on  my  subscriptions  to  the  funds 
of  the  Colonization  Society.  It  is  true  that  the  conditions  on  which 
these  subscriptions  were  made,  have  not  been  fulfilled,  and  that  it  is 
now  too  late  to  fulfill  them.  It  is  further  true,  that  most  of  the 
sum  I  still  owe  has  some  years  to  run  before  it  is  due.  But  I  sym 
pathize  with  the  Society  in  its  embarrassments,  and  herewith  enclose 
you  my  check  for  the  whole  balance — viz.,  three  thousand  dollars. 
It  is  my  wish,  though  I  would  not  insist  on  its  taking  this  direction 
against  the  judgment  of  your  much  esteemed  board — that  the 
whole  sum  be  applied  towards  the  cancelment  of  the  debts  of  the 
Society. 

At  some  future  period,  and  under  happier  auspices,  the  American 
Colonization  Society  may  possibly  cease  to  meddle  with  slavery ; 
and  to  claim  that  it  is  the  remedy,  and  the  only  remedy  for  that 


1 68  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

evil.  It  may  then  confine  its  operations  to  their  constitutional  sphere, 
and  employ  all  its  means  in  the  benevolent  and  delightful  work  of 
aiding  the  free  people  of  color  in  our  country  to  escape  from  the  un 
relenting  prejudice  and  persecution  under  which  they  suffer,  and  to 
obtain  in  a  foreign  land  the  honorable  and  happy  home  which  is 
cruelly  and  wickedly  denied  to  them  in  their  own.  I  may  then  have 
it  in  my  heart  and  in  my  power  to  contribute  again  to  your  treasury. 
In  the  mean  time,  I  cannot  conscientiously  do  so, — nor,  indeed,  do 
anything  else  from  which  my  approbation  of  the  Society  could  be 
justly  inferred. 

It  is  proper  for  me  to  say,  that  I  am  brought  to  this  determina 
tion  earlier  than  I  expected  to  be,  by  the  recent  increase  ot  my 
interest  in  the  American  Anti-Slavery  Society.  From  its  organiza 
tion  to  the  present  time,  I  have  looked  to  that  society  as,  under  God, 
the  best  hope  of  the  slave  and  of  my  country.  Since  the  late  alarm 
ing  attacks,  in  the  persons  of  its  members,  on  the  right  of  discussion, 
(and  astonishing  as  it  is,  some  of  the  suggestions  for  invading  this 
right  are  impliedly  countenanced  in  the  African  Repository)  I  have 
looked  to  it,  as  being  also  the  rallying  point  of  the  friends  of  this 
right.  To  that  society  yours  is  hostile,  I  will  not  say  without  cause 
— without  even  as  much  as  the  certainly  very  great  cause  which  it 
has  for  being  the  enemy  of  yours.  However  that  may  be,  it  is  enough 
for  my  present  purpose  and  to  justify  me  in  standing  aloof  from  your 
society,  to  know  that  the  Anti-Slavery  Society  has  now  become  iden 
tified  with  this  threatened  right  ;  and  that  if  it  fall,  as  your  society  is 
diligently  striving  that  it  shall,  this  great  and  sacred  right  of  man 
will  fall  and  perish  with  it. 

With  great  regard,  your  friend. 

GERRIT  SMITH. 

It  will  be  seen  from  this  letter  that  Mr.  Smith  did 
not  take  issue  with  the  Colonization  Society,  as  Mr. 
Garrison  did,  on  the  ground  of  its  original  purpose,  but 
on  the  opposite  ground  that  it  had  abandoned  its  original 
purpose.  The  original  purpose  is  still  commended  as 
praiseworthy,  and  Mr.  Smith  hopes  once  more  to  be  a 
fellow-worker  with  the  society  in  promoting  it.  He  was 
offended  by  the  attempt  to  thwart  and  crush  another 
purpose  which  he  dearly  cherished,  and  which  he  did 


SLAVERY.  169 

not  see  was  inconsistent  with  its  own.  At  this  time,  in 
1831,  when  he  spoke  in  glowing  language  of  the  true 
aims  of  the  Colonization  Society,  he  could  contemplate 
with  enthusiastic  hope  the  scheme  of  planting  Christian 
civilization  in  Africa,  of  suppressing  the  foreign  slave 
trade,  of  improving  the  lot  of  the  native  tribes  and  the 
future  of  the  free  colored  race  at  home.  But  he  could 
not  say  now  as  he  said  in  1831,  of  the  blacks  :  "  They 
are  incapable  of  freedom  on  our  soil.  They  cannot  rise 
in  our  esteem  above  the  level  of  the  moral  state  of  the 
land  of  their  origin,  which  is  their  appropriate,  their  only 
home.  It  is  of  first  importance  as  regards  our  character 
abroad,  that  we  should  hasten  to  clear  our  land  of  our 
black  population."  The  urgent  question  no\v  was  the 
freedom  of  this  very  population,  on  our  own  soil ;  and\t 
was  because  the  Colonization  Society  angrily  resisted 
the  only  efforts  made  to  this  end, — efforts  that  he  him 
self  had  but  recently  characterized  as  in  a  large  measure 
"ill-judged,  rash,  uncharitable  and  slanderous," — that  he 
withdrew  from  it  his  sympathy  and  support.  He  de 
serted  the  society  because  it  deserted  its  principles. 
But  he  paid  in  full  the  dues  he  had  pledged,  requesting 
that  the  money  might  be  used  in  payment  of  the  socie 
ty's  debts,  not  in  furtherance  of  the  society's  operations — • 
that  is,  might  be  employed  in  the  interest  of  its  past 
fidelity  to  its  ideas,  not  in  the  interest  of  its  present 
infidelity  to  them. 

Three  years  later,  in  1838,  he  took  stronger  ground. 
Then  he  wrote  to  President  Schmucker,  of  the  theo 
logical  seminary  in  Gettysburg,  Pennsylvania: 

"  If  the  Colonization  Society  had  not  come  out  against  the  doc 
trine  of  immediate  emancipation,  and  inferentially  against  the  doc- 
8 


I7O  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

trine  of  the  sinfulness  of  slavery,  I  should,  in  all  probability,  have 
continued  a  member  of  it  down  to  the  present  time.  But  for  its  op 
position  to  those  doctrines,  I  might  very  probably  have  continued  to 
think  that  it  was  producing  a  measure  at  least,  of  the  good  influences 
and  effects  which  you  ascribe  to  it.  It  is  however,  but  proper  to  say 
that  my  confidence  in  the  usefulness  of  the  colonization  of  our  col 
ored  brethren,  or  any  portion  of  them  on  the  coast  of  Africa  or  any 
where  else, — and  even  though  such  colonization  were  conducted 
with  great  benevolence  and  with  no  unfriendliness  to  the  great  doc 
trines  of  the  anti-slavery  societies, — has  undergone  a  great,  exceed 
ingly  great  diminution.  It  is  not  however  on  the  ground  of  diminu 
tion,  that  I  avow  myself  an  anti-colonizationist.  It  is  because  it  has, 
to  use  your  own  language,  taken  the  "  position  that  the  colored  race 
cannot  with  any  propriety  be  emancipated  on  the  soil, — that  expa 
triation  and  emancipation  must  go  together."  ...  I  would  not 
deny  that  there  are  members  of  the  Colonization  Society  who  favor 
the  doctrine  of  immediate  and  unconditional  emancipation  ; — though 
Judge  Jay,  in  his  book  on  colonization,  speaks  ot  me  as  the  only  one. 
But  certain  it  is  that  they  are  rare ;  and  as  certain  it  is  that  the  so 
ciety  ridicules,  denounces  and  abhors  the  doctrine.  ,  .  In  view 
of  the  exceedingly  wicked  and  abhorrent  sentiments  of  Rev.  R.  J. 
Breckinridge,  which  I  have  cited,  I  cannot  but  think  how  grateful 
you  and  I  should  feel  that  God  has  led  us  to  quit  forever  a  society 
which  generates  and  fosters  such  sentiments.  Had  we  remained  in 
it  we  might  have  been  left  to  imbibe  those  sentiments,  to  adopt  all 
its  cruel  and  murderous  policy  and  to  keep  pace  with  its  fast  in 
creasing  wickedness." 

His  part  having  been  chosen,  Gernt  Smith  threw 
himself  into  it  with  the  full  force  of  his  natural  ardor. 
His  labors  were,  in  simple  fact,  immense.  Letters  were 
ceaselessly  flowing  from  his  pen  ;  speeches  poured  stead 
ily  from  his  lips  ;  money  streamed  in  full  current  from 
his  purse.  William  Goodell,  most  unwearied  of  aboli 
tionists,  wrote  that  the  meetings  in  Madison  County 
came  so  fast  that  no  reports  could  be  made  of  them. 
All  the  time  that  could  possibly  be  spared  from  the  de 
mands  of  an  exacting  business  was  freely  given.  His 
whole  mental  and  moral  power,  stimulated  by  the  drafts 


SLAVERY.  171 

on  it,  and  fed  by  the  sources  of  his  religious  faith,  were 
exerted  to  the  utmost.  One  man  was  determined  to 
discharge  the  full  measure  of  his  responsibility  so  far  as 
thoughtfulness  and  aspiration  revealed  it  to  his  mind. 

His  genius  was  practical.  He  fixed  his  eye  on  a 
definite  object  to  be  attained,  and  he  welcomed  all  allies 
to  the  work  of  attaining  it,  made  no  more  foes  than  were 
necessary,  put  the  best  construction  on  doubtful  men 
and  measures,  waived  incidental  and  subordinate  issues, 
encouraged  rather  than  discouraged,  and  generally  used 
the  method  of  the  enthusiast  where  others  plied  the 
policy  of  the  fanatic.  His  object  was  the  abolition  of 
slavery  and  the  creation  of  a  public  sentiment  that  would 
demand  its  abolition.  Boundless  was  his  faith  in  moral 
powers.  He  believed  that  true  principles,  if  adhered  to, 
honored  and  diffused  by  two  or  three  hundred  thousand 
people,  would  overmatch  the  falsities  of  millions ;  that 
truth  had  an  inherent  advantage  over  falsehood,  right 
an  essential  superiority  over  wrong.  The  moral  prin 
ciple  he  could  feel  sure  of;  the  method  of  policy  must 
vary  with  circumstances.  Hence  he  was  at  no  pains  to 
vindicate  his  consistency  to  expedients  or  to  preserve  it. 
On  the  contrary,  the  adherence  to  old  methods  in  the 
face  of  new  facts  or  considerations  was,  in  his  regard,  a 
weakness.  His  views  on  even  important  questions  had 
changed  greatly;  they  were  continually  changing;  he 
hoped  they  would  change  still  more,  all  the  time,  as  they 
changed,  deepening  his  trust  in  the  principle  and  increas 
ing  his  wisdom  to  support  it.  He  lacked  the  absolute 
quality  of  mind  that  makes  the  man  of  theory.  His  in 
tellectual  resources  were  immense,  but  his  intellectual 
fibre  was  loose.  His  force  was  a  flood,  pouring  on  in  a 


172  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

wide  but  not  sharply  defined  channel.  Men  like  Beriah 
Green  and  William  Goodell  were  forever  quarelling  with 
his  logical  vagaries,  and  forever  exulting  in  his  rush  of 
moral  force.  The  one  quality  he  demanded  was  earnest 
ness  in  radical  anti-slavery  work. 

For  half-way  reformers,  men  of  one  idea,  he  had  no 
respect.  At  an  anti-sectarian  convention  held  in  Peter- 
boro,  in  1849,  ne  presented  a  resolution,  "  that  they,  and 
they  only  are  Christians,  who  love  God  and  man ;  and 
that  they  and  they  only  are  to  be  recognized  as  Chris 
tians,  who,  in  the  fruits  of  their  lives,  evidence  that  they 
love  God  and  man."  The  resolution  was  sharply  con 
tested.  "  He  is  an  unjust  man,"  he  said  in  an  address 
to  the  Liberty  Party  of  the  State  of  New  York,  "  who 
will  espouse  but  one  good  cause;  and  hence  his  fidelity 
to  that  is  not  to  be  relied  on.  He  is  an  unjust  man,  who 
is  a  one-idea  man ;  and  hence  he  may  prove  traitorous  to 
his  favorite  idea."  To  love  God  was  not,  in  his  view, 
to  love  a  definition  of  God  ;  to  love  man  was  a  good 
deal  more  than  loving  a  particular  "  brand  "  of  humanity. 

Gerrit  Smith's  cardinal  doctrine,  copiously  stated 
and  argued,  was  this:  that  slavery,  being  an  outrage  on 
the  first  principles  of  humanity,  was  a  violation  of  the 
very  idea  of  law  ;  that  law  could  neither  establish  it  nor 
protect  it ;  that  no  State  or  national  code,  no  constitu 
tion  could  give  it  guarantee  ;  that  the  law  which  justified 
it  stultified  itself  in  so  doing,  and  thereby  forfeited  its 
title  to  the  name  of  law ;  that  slavery  was  always  and 
everywhere,  under  all  forms,  and  in  spite  of  all  sanctions, 
an  outlaw  and  should  be  an  outcast.  The  distinction 
between  higher  law  and  lower  he  refused  to  recognize. 
The  law.  all  law,  had  its  seat  in  the  bosom  of  God ;  all 


SLAVERY.  173 

law  was  high  ;  if  low  things,  policies,  expediencies,  de 
vices,  utilities  took  the  name  of  law,  they  usurped  it, 
and  must  justify  their  claim  to  use  it  by  their  acquies 
cence  in  the  decrees  of  the  moral  sense. 

Could  slavery  find  shelter  behind  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States?  This  was  the  agitated  question. 
"  Yes,"  replied  the  abolitionist;  ''therefore  away  with 
the  Constitution."  "Yes,"  replied  the  anti-abolitionist; 
"  therefore  let  slavery  alone."  "  No,"  said  the  anti- 
slavery  Whigs,  "  for  the  Constitution  is  not  a  pro-slavery 
instrument."  "  No,"  said  Gerrit  Smith,  "  for  slavery,  in 
the  nature  of  the  case,  cannot  find  shelter  behind  any 
thing  that  bears  the  name  of  law ;  the  Constitution  that 
offered  shelter  to  slavery  would  have  no  validity.  The 
question  whether  or  no  slavery  finds  shelter  behind  the 
Constitution,  is  wanting  in  pertinency  :  there  is  no  such 
question."  Not  without  much  expense  of  argument  was 
this  position  maintained.  To  others  it  did  not  seem  as 
self-evident  as  it  did  to  him.  The  angry  letters  of  cor 
respondents,  published  and  unpublished — some  of  them 
from  personal  friends  whom  he  revered  and  loved — tes 
tify  to  the  cost  at  which  he  held  an  opinion  so  distaste 
ful  not  to  the  extremists  alone,  on  both  sides,  but  to 
moderate  men  as  well.  Gentle  speech  was  not  common 
in  those  times ;  men  were  consigned  to  purgatory  and 
worse  for  the  lightest  offences  against  the  party  stand 
ards;  and  Mr.  Smith's  idea  of  the  Calvinistic  hereafter 
must  have  been  clarified  by  the  descriptions  of  the  doom 
from  which  nothing  short  of  special  grace  could  de 
liver  him. 

His  discussions  of  the  constitutional  question  were 
as  temperate  in  tone  as  they  were  affluent,  luminous  and 


1/4  LIFE  OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

massive  in  treatment.  The  same  ground  precisely  that 
he  took  in  regard  to  the  Bible,  that  he  might  have  the 
benefit  of  the  popular  reverence  for  the  book  on  the 
side  of  temperance  and  freedom,  he  took  in  regard  to 
the  Constitution,  in  order  that  the  universal  veneration 
for  the  instrument,  enhanced  by  association  with  the 
moral  ahd  religious  sentiments,  might  assist  the  work  of 
reform.  Like  Sumner,  he  contended  for  the  anti-slavery 
construction  of  the  organic  law  of  the  Republic,  rein 
forcing  the  usual  arguments  with  ingenious  considera 
tions  of  his  own.  He  would  not  allow  a  shadow  of  sus 
picion  to  lie  either  on  the  intent  or  the  letter  of  the 
document,  but  claimed  that  it  needed  no  amendment; 
herein  going  beyond  Mr.  Sumner,  who  cast  an  implied 
reproach  on  the  Constitution  as  it  stood,  by  asking  that 
it  might  be  improved.  To  Mr.  Smith's  mind,  it  was 
good  enough ;  it  contained  all  that  the  most  exacting  re 
publican  could  desire.  His  views  were  tersely  expressed 
in  a  letter  to  John  G.  Whittier,  dated  July  18, 1844,  and 
published  under  the  title  :  "  Gerrit  Smith's  Constitutional 
Argument."  It  contended  that  the  faithful  application 
of  the  principles  of  the  Constitution  would  result  in  the 
speedy  abolition  of  the  whole  system  of  American  sla 
very  ;  that  its  framers  and  acceptors  "  believed  and  joy- 
fully  believed,  that  American  slavery  was  to  endure  but 
a  few  years ;"  that  the  omission  of  the  words  "slave" 
and  "  slavery  "  is  a  clear  confession  that  the  Constitution 
did  not  mean  to  recognize  the  legal  existence  of  either ; 
that  the  "  apportionment  clause,"  allowing  a  three-fifths 
representation  to  slaves,  "  is  a  bounty  on  liberty,  and 
presents  a  strong  inducement  to  every  State  to  raise  its 
inhabitants  to  the  rank  of  freemen,"  the  "reduction  of 


SLAVERY.  175 

a  man  to  the  fraction  of  a  man  "  being  of  the  nature  of 
an  indignity  which,  but  for  the  existence  of  slavery,  would 
never  have  been  inflicted  ;  and  that  the  provision  to  re 
turn  fugitives,  even  if  applied  to  slaves,  was  limited, 
naturally,  to  the  original  thirteen  States,  and  in  them  is 
44  null  and  void  "  because  *'  it  is  contrary  to  the  Divine 
Law."  The  letter  ends  with  this  characteristic  passage: 

"  The  constitution  is  an  anti-slavery  instrument,  and  needs  but 
to  be  administered  in  consistency  with  its  principles  to  effectuate  the 
speedy  overthrow  of  the  whole  system  of  American  slavery.  It  is  a 
power  in  the  hands  of  the  people  which  they  cannot  fling  away,  with 
out  making  themselves  guilty  of  ingratitude  to  God  and  treason  to 
the  slave  ; — for  God  has  given  it  to  them  ;  and  the  slave  vitally  needs 
their  righteous  use  of  it.  It  may  cost  them  much  toil  and  self-denial 
and  vexation  of  spirit  to  recover  that  power  from  the  perversions  by 
which  it  has  upheld  and  extended  the  dominion  of  slavery  ; — but  to 
all  this  they  must  submit ;  and  the  more  readily,  because  they  have 
shared,  and  largely  too,  in  the  guilt  of  those  perversions.  This  shield 
which  God  has  given  us  to  put  over  the  head  of  the  slave  we  have 
traitorously  made  the  protection  of  the  slaveholder.  This  weapon, 
which  God  has  given  us  for  fighting  the  battles  of  the  oppressed,  we 
have  murderously  wielded  on  the  side  of  the  oppressor.  It  will  be 
a  poor  fruit  of  repentance,  or,  rather,  a  fruit  of  poor  repentance,  if 
now,  when  our  hearts  are  smitten  with  a  sense  of  our  wrong  use  of 
this  shield  and  weapon,  we  shall,  from  our  study  of  ease  and  quiet, 
from  our  desire  to  promote  a  favorite  theory,  or  from  any  other  cause, 
throw  them  away,  instead  of  manfully,  courageously,  perseveringly, 
and  therefore  successfully,  putting  them  to  a  right  use." 

In  1850,  Mr.  Smith  made  a  speech  in  Albany,  on  the 
relation  of  slavery  to  the  Constitution,  which  he  intro 
duced  by  reading  the  following  petition,  framed  by  him 
self  and  numerously  signed,  which  had  been  presented 
to  the  State  legislature. 

To  the  Senate  and  Assembly  of  the  State  of  New  York  : 

What  a  wonder,  what  a  shame,  what  a  crime,  that  in  the  midst 
of  the  light  and  progress  of  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century, 


LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

such  an  abomination  and  outrage  as  slaver)*  should  be  acknowl 
edged  to  be  a  legal  institution  !  Who  that  reverences  law,  and  would 
have  it  bless  the  world,  can  consent  that  its  sanction  and  support, 
its  honor  and  holiness  be  given  to  such  a  compound  of  robbery  and 
meanness  and  murder,  as  is  slavery? 

Your  petitioners  pray  that  your  Honorable  Bodies  request  the 
representatives  and  instruct  the  senators  of  this  State  in  Congress  to 
treat  the  legalization  of  slavery  as  an  impossibility  ;  and  moreover, 
to  insist  that  the  Federal  Constrtution  shall,  like  ail  other  laws,  be 
subjected  to  the  strict  rules  of  legal  interpretation,  to  the  end  that 
its  anti-slavery  character  be  thereby  seen  and  established,  and  all 
imputations  upon  that  character  forever  excluded. 

The  slave-holder  will  be  strong  so  long  as  he  can  plead  law  for 
his  matchless  crime.  But  take  from  him  that  plea,  and  he  will  be 
too  weak  to  continue  his  grasp  upon  his  victims.  It  is  unreasonable 
to  look  for  the  peaceful  termination  of  slavery  while  the  North,  and 
especially  while  abolitionists  of  the  North,  sustain  the  claim  of  the 
South  to  its  constitutionality.  But  let  the  North,  and  especially  the 
abolitionists  of  the  North,  resist,  and  expose  the  absurdity  of  this 
claim — and  slavery,  denied  thereafter  all  countenance  and  nourish 
ment  from  the  constitution,  will  quickly  perish. 

Your  petitioners  will  esteem  it  a  great  favor  if  your  Honorable 
Bodies  will  consent  to  hear  one  or  more  of  them  in  behalf  of  the 
prayers  of  their  Petition.  January  22,  1850. 

The  argument  that  followed  was  pitched  to  this  key. 
We  need  not  quote  from  its  impassioned  pages.  They 
who  are  at  all  acquainted  with  the  course  of  reasoning 
pursued  by  Lysander  Spooner  in  the  volume  which  Mr. 
Smith  warmly  commended,  or  by  the  orators  of  the  Free 
Soil  Party,  have  only  to  imagine  them  pressed  with  the 
fervor  and  force  of  Mr.  Smith's  swelling  heart.  They  to 
whom  the  discussion  is  unfamiliar,  must  go  to  other 
sources  for  information.  It  was  Mr.  Smith's  endeavor 
to  place  the  Constitution  actively  on  the  side  of  human 
ity,  as  the  broad  manifesto  of  democratic  institutions. 
Nothing  less  than  this  contented  him.  When  the  ques 
tion  of  amending  the  Constitution  in  the  interest  of 


SLAVERY.  177 

freedom  was  up,  in   1864,  Mr.  Smith   wrote  to   Charles 
Sumner  a  letter  of  which  the  following  is  an  extract : 

"  An  amendment  implying-  that  without  it,  the  constitution  would 
authorize  or  even  tolerate  slavery,  would  do  great  injustice  to  those 
who  adopted  the  constitution.  It  would  be  wickedly  blotting  their 
memory.  So  much  stress  has  been  laid  on  the  history  of  the  con 
stitution,  it  may  well  be  said  that  there  are  two  constitutions,  the 
one  the  historical,  and  the  other  the  literal.  The  former  is  that 
which  has  ruled  the  country.  Terrible,  all  the  way,  has  been  its 
rule.  The  cry  of  many  millions  to  an  avenging-  God  has  come  of  it. 
The  soaking  of  our  land  with  blood  has  also  come  of  it.  That  the 
history  of  the  constitution  has  so  cursed  us  is  because  it  is  so  almost 
universally  held  to  be  a  pro-slavery  history.  In  other  words,  that 
this  historical  constitution  has  so  cursed  us  is  because  of  the  ever 
urged  and  almost  universally  accepted  claim  that  the  literal  consti 
tution  was  made  in  the  interest  of  slavery.  Alas  for  the  people  to 
whom  the  angel  of  the  Apocalypse  cried  'woe,  woe,  woe,'  if  they 
suffered  more  than  America  has  suffered  from  this  historical  con 
stitution  !  That  there  is  much  for  slavery  in  the  history  of  the 
constitution  I  admit.  But  that  there  is  also  much  in  it  against 
slavery  I  affirm.  Pro-slavery  interests  however  have  succeeded  in 
keeping-  the  latter  out  of  sight.  The  rejection  in  the  convention, 
which  framed  the  constitution,  of  the  motion  to  require  'fugitive 
slaves '  to  be  delivered  up,  and  the  unanimous  adoption  the  next  day 
of  the  motion  to  deliver  up,  no  '  fugitive  slaves,'  but  persons  from 
whom  labor  or  service  is  due,  is  a  historical  fact  against  slavery.  So 
too  is  Mr.  Madison's  unopposed  declaration  in  the  convention,  that 
it  would  be  'wrong  to  admit  in  the  constitution  the  idea  that  there 
could  be  property  in  man.'  And  so  also  is  that  convention's  unani 
mous  substitution  of  the  word  '  service  '  for  '  servitude '  for  the 
avowed  reason  that  servitude  expresses  the  condition  of  slaves  and 
service  that  of  freemen.  Nothing  however  of  all  this  did  I  need  to 
say.  What  this  thing  is,  which  is  called  the  history  of  the  constitu 
tion — what  is  this  historical  constitution  as  I  have  termed  that  his 
tory — is  really  of  no  moment.  What  it  is  in  the  light  of  the  records 
of  the  convention  referred  to,  or  of  the  records  of  the  '  Virginia 
Convention  '  or  any  other  convention,  or  what  it  is  on  the  pages  of 
the  '  Federalist,'  or  of  any  other  book,  or  of  any  newspaper,  should 
not  be  made  the  least  account  of.  The  aggregate  of  all  those  whose 
words  contributed  to  make  up  this  historical  constitution,  is  but  a 
comparative  handful.  The  one  question  is — What  is  the  literal 
8* 


1/  LIFE   OF  G  ERR  IT  SMITH. 

constitution?  For  it  is  that  and  that  only,  which  the  people  adopted, 
and  which  is  therefore  the  constitution.  They  did  not  adopt  the 
discussions  of  the  convention  which  framed  it.  These  were  secret. 
They  did  not  adopt  what  the  newspapers  said  of  the  constitution. 
Newspapers  in  that  day  were  emphatically  '  few  and  far  between.' 
But  even  had  they  been  familiar  with  the  newspapers  and  with  the 
discussions,  their  one  duty  would  nevertheless  have  been  to  pass 
upon  the  simple  letter  of  the  constitution.  As  Judge  Story  so  well 
says  :  '  Nothing  but  the  text  itself  was  adopted  by  the  people.'  And 
I  add  that  what  the  people  intended  by  the.  constitution  is  to  be 
gathered  solely  from  its  text ;  and  that  what  the  people  intended  by 
it  and  not  what  its  framers  or  the  commentators  upon  it  intended, 
is  the  constitution.  So  we  will  take  up  the  text  of  the  constitution 
to  learn  what  and  what  alone  is  the  constitution.  Its  very  preamble 
tells  us  that  it  is  made  to  •  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty.'  Thus, 
even  in  the  porch  of  her  temple  doth  Liberty  deign  to  meet  us. 
Strange  indeed  would  it  be  were  she  to  desert  us  in  its  apartments  ! 
She  does  not.  In  our  progress  through  the  constitution  we  find  it 
pleading  the  power  of  the  whole  nation  to  maintain  in  every  State 
•a  republican  form  of  government.'  Pro-slavery  men  tell  us  that 
this  was  no  more  than  a  republican  government  of  the  aristocratic 
Greek  and  Roman  type  ;  and  that  therefore  men  can  consistently  be 
bought  and  sold  under  it.  But  when  the  fathers  gave  us  the  con 
stitution  the  political  heavens  were  all  ablaze  with  a  new  light — the 
light  of  the  truth  '  that  all  men  are  created  equal,'  and  that  the  great 
end  of  government  is  to  maintain  that  equality.  Ere  we  get  through 
the  constitution — ere  Liberty  has  led  us  all  the  way  through  her 
temple — we  meet  with  the  slavery-forbidding  declaration  that :  •  No 
person  shall  be  deprived  of  life,  liberty  or  property  without  due 
process  of  law  !  " 

******** 
What  an  argument  it  is  in  favor  of  the  anti-slavery  character  of 
the  constitution,  that  not  so  much  as  one  line,  no,  nor  one  word  of  it, 
need  be  changed  in  order  to  bring  it  into  perfect  harmony  with  the 
most  radical  and  sweeping  anti-slavery  amendment.  And  how 
strongly  is  this  character  argued  from  the  fact,  that  were  constitu 
tional  phrases,  as  innocent  and  inapplicable  as  these  which  are  re 
lied  on  to  rob  the  noblest  black  man  of  his  liberty,  to  be  made  the 
ground  for  robbing  the  meanest  white  man  of  his,  or  even  the  mean 
est  white  man  of  his  meanest  dog,  such  use  of  them  would  be  in 
stantly  and  indignantly  scouted  by  all !  And  how  strongly  is  it  aUo 
argued  from  the  fact,  that  a  stranger  to  America  and  to  her  practice 


SLAVERY. 

of  making  church  and  State  and  all  things  minister  to  slavery,  could 
see  absolutely  nothing,  could  suspect  absolutely  nothing  in  the  con 
stitution,  which  might  be  seized  on  to  turn  that  also  to  the  foul  and 
diabolical  service  ? 

But  why  should  we  stop  with  an  anti-slavery  amendment  ?  Im 
measurably  more  needed  is  an  amendment  to  the  effect  that  race  or 
origin  shall  not  work  a  forfeiture  of  any  civil  or  political  rights. 
Even  an  anti-slavery  amendment  may  not  be  permanent.  A  race, 
whilst  deprived  of  rights  which  other  races  enjoy,  can  have  no  rea 
sonable  assurance  that  it  will  be  protected  against  even  slavery.  But 
make  it  equal  with  them,  in  rights,  and  it  will  be  able  to  protect  itself. 

Gerrit  Smith's  views  of  government  corresponded  to 
his  views  of  the  Federal  Constitution — and  was,  in  a  sim 
ilar  sense,  his  own.     There  are  two  general  theories  of 
the  province  of  government ;  the  theory  that  would  have 
government  do.  everything — the    "  paternal  "   theory, — 
which  regards  government  as  a  providence,  whose  care 
may  properly  be  extended  over  the  interests  of  religion, 
education,  chanty,  social  and  personal  morals,  and  even 
the  processes  of  material  development ; — and  the  theory 
that  government  should  do  nothing,  a  theory  commonly 
called   "  Laissez  faire"  which  regards  government  as  a 
hindrance,  and  would  abolish  it  altogether,  or  reduce  it 
to  the  function  of  guarding  individual  freedom  against 
the  pressure  of  society.     The  first  theory,  if  pushed  to 
an  extreme,  would  dispense  with  personal  activity,  and 
virtually,  if  not  literally,  annihilate  private  liberty.     The 
second,  if  pushed  to  an  extreme,  would  leave  individuals 
to  meet  their  own  wants,  in  their  own  way,  by  single  or 
combined  effort.     The  first  may  be  called  the  theory  of 
the  old  world,  the  second  the  theory  of  the  new  world. 
Mr.  Smith  was  satisfied    with   neither.     The  first  was 
the  mark  of  his  keenest  criticism,  as  being  altogether  in 
consistent  with   the   genius  of  institutions  which   rested 


180  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

on  individual  intelligence  and  self-reliance.  The  second 
made  inadequate  provision  for  the  protection  of  the 
moral  interests,  against  bestiality  and  inhumanity.  Here 
his  strong  practical  instinct  and  his  impetuous  enthu 
siasm  for  reform  revealed  to  his  eye  distinctions  where 
the  philosophical  mind  could  see  none.  First  of  all  he 
is  a  Christian,  a  believer  in  the  bible,  a  man  relying  on 
the  gospel,  and  accepting  the  New  Testament  ideas  of 
the  perfect  society ;  it  could  not  be  expected  of  him 
therefore,  that  he  should  reason  like  a  "  philosopher  "  or 
a  disciple  of  the  later  school  of  social  science.  "  Bible 
Civil  Government  "  is  his  motto;  what  that  is,  in  his 
estimation,  we  are  left  in  no  doubt  of.  But  while  some 
of  his  contemporaries  accepted  the  Old  Testament  theo 
cratic  idea,  and  advocated  a  spiritual  rule  in  the  name 
of  "  Him  that  sate  upon  the  throne,"  he  interpreted  the 
bible  doctrine  to  mean  pure  humanity.  "  We  cannot," 
he  says,  "  mistake  the  Bible  apprehension  of  civil  gov 
ernment  when  it  tells  us  that  '  rulers  are  not  a  terror  to 
good  works,  but  to  the  evil ; '  nor  when  it  says  that  the 
ruler  '  is  minister  of  God/  or  in  other  words,  acts  on  and 
acts  out  the  principles  of  God.  And  who  can  mistake 
it,  or  fail  to  be  touched  and  melted  by  it,  when  he 
reads  the  injunction  upon  civil  government :  '  Take  coun 
sel,  execute  judgment,  make  thy  shadow  as  the  night  in 
the  midst  of  the  noon-day,  hide  the  outcasts,  bewray 
not  him  that  wandereth ;  let  mine  outcasts  dwell  with 
thee ;  be  thou  a  covert  to  them  from  the  face  of  the 
spoiler.'  Or  who  can  misapprehend  it,  or  not  be  moved 
by  it  when  he  reads :  '  Thou  shalt  not  deliver  unto  his 
master  the  servant  which  is  escaped  from  his  master 
unto  thee.  He  shall  dwell  with  thee,  even  among  you, 


SLAVERY.  l8l 

in  that  place  which  he  shall  choose,  in  one  of  thy  gates 
where  it  liketh  him  best.  Thou  shalt  not  oppress  him.' 
.  .  .  Civil  government  is,  in  the  eye  of  reason,  the 
collective  people  caring  for  each  of  the  people — the  com 
bination  of  all  for  the  protection  of  each  one.  Such  is  it 
in  spirit  and  scope  on  the  pages  of  the  Bible.  We  there 
see  it  to  be,  next  to  God  Himself  the  great  Protector; 
and  as  is  reasonable,  the  special  Protector  of  the  inno 
cent,  and  helpless  poor."  Thus  the  humane  soul  of  the 
philanthropist  adopted,  accepted  so  far,  the  "  paternal " 
idea.  The  independence  of  the  American,  however, 
saved  the  philanthropist  from  the  extreme  consequences 
of  it.  The  working  reformer  is  always  at  odds  with  the 
social  philosopher.  Hot  feeling  and  cool  logic  are  never 
quite  in  accord.  Very  seldom,  we  venture  to  think,  do 
they  approach  so  nearly  as  in  the  case  of  Gerrit  Smith. 
Had  his  concern  for  other  social  interests  been  as  deep 
and  intense  as  his  concern  for  temperance  and  emanci 
pation,  they  might  have  touched  at  fewer  points  still. 
As  it  was,  the  line  between  what  government  could  and 
could  not  do,  was  drawn  with  reasonable  clearness. 
His  views  on  this  subject  were  so  little  modified  in  the 
course  of  many  years,  that  in  quoting  them,  dates  are 
of  no  consequence.  The  simplest  statement  of  them  is 
found  in  an  address  on  "  The  True  Office  of  Civil  Gov 
ernment,"  delivered  at  Troy,  April  I4th,  1851.  It  begins 
thus: 

lt  The  legitimate  action  of  civil  government  is  very  simple.  Its 
legitimate  range  is  very  narrow.  Government  owes  nothing  to  its 
subjects  but  protection.  And  this  is  a  protection,  not  from  compe 
tition,  but  from  crimes.  It  owes  them  no  protection  from  the  for 
eign  farmer,  or  foreign  manufacturer,  or  foreign  navigator.  As  it 
owes  them  no  other  protection  from  each  other  than  from  the  crimes 


1 82  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

of  each  other,  so  it  owes  them  no  other  protection  against  foreigners 
than  from  the  crimes  of  foreigners.  Nor  is  it  from  all  crimes  that 
government  is  bound  to  protect  its  subjects.  It  is  from  such  only 
as  are  committed  against  their  persons  and  possessions.  Ingratitude 
is  a  crime ;  but  as  it  is  not  of  this  class  of  crimes,  government  is  not 
to  be  cognizant  of  it. 

"  No  protection  does  government  owe  to  the  morals  of  its  sub 
jects.  Still  less  is  it  bound  to  study  to  promote  their  morals.  To 
call  on  government  to  increase  the  wealth  of  its  subjects,  or  to  help 
the  progress  of  religion  among  them,  or,  in  short,  to  promote  any 
of  their  interests,  is  to  call  on  it  to  do  that  which  it  has  no  right  to 
do,  and  which,  it  is  safe  to  add,  it  has  no  power  to  do.  Were  gov 
ernment  to  aim  to  secure  to  its  subjects  the  free  and  inviolable  con 
trol  of  their  persons  and  property — of  life  and  of  the  means  of  sus 
taining  life — it  would  aim  at  all  that  it  should  aim  at.  And  its  sub 
jects,  if  they  get  this  security,  should  feel  that  they  need  nothing 
more  at  the  hands  of  government  to  enable  them  to  work  their  way 
well  through  the  world.  Government,  in  a  word  is  to  say  to  its  sub 
jects  :  '  You  must  do  for  yourselves.  My  only  part  is  to  defend 
your  right  to  do  for  yourselves.  You  must  do  your  own  work.  I 
will  but  protect  you  in  that  work.'  " 

He  continues: 

"  Whenever  the  work  of  the  people  is  taken  out  of  their  hands 
by  the  government — or,  since  the  people  are  quite  as  ready  to  shirk 
their  work  as  the  government  is  to  usurp  it — I  might  as  well  say 
whenever  the  people  devolve  it  on  government,  it  is,  of  course,  badly 
done.  This  is  true,  because  every  work  to  be  well  done  must  be 
done  by  its  appropriate  agent.  Whenever  government  builds  rail 
roads  and  canals  it  builds  them  injudiciously  and  wastefully.  So 
too,  whenever  government  meddles  with  schools,  it  proves  that  it  is 
out  of  its  place  by  the  pernicious  influence  it  exerts  upon  them. 
And  to  whatever  extent  churches  are  controlled  by  government, 
to  that  extent  they  are  corrupted  by  it.  ...  Government  has 
naught  to  do  but  to  protect  its  subjects  from  crimes.  The  crimes 
however,  which  it  permits  against  them — and  still  more,  the  crimes 
which  it  authorizes  and  even  perpetrates  against  them — show  how 
extensively  it  fails  of  its.  duty. 

"  Slavery  is  a  crime ;  nevertheless,  government  not  only  permits 
its  subjects  to  be  enslaved,  but  it  actually  enacts  laws  for  their 
enslavement. 

"Land  Monopoly  is  a  crime ;  government  positively  and  ex- 


SLAVERY.  183 

pressly  permits  it.  Still  worse,  it  does  itself  practice  it.  Government 
is  itseif  the  great  land  monopolist. 

"  The  compelling  of  one  generation  to  pay  the  debts  of  another 
is  a  crime.  Government  not  only  suffers  its  subjects  to  be  robbed 
of  their  earnings,  in  order  to  pay  the  debts  of  former  generations, 
but  it  actually  compels  them  to  submit  to  such  robbery. 

"  To  deny  woman  s  right  to  control  her  property,  to  deny  woman 
her  right  to  participate  in  the  choice  of  civil  rulers  is  a  crime.  But 
government,  so  far  from  defending  these  rights,  does  itself  rob  her 
of  them. 

"  The  violation  of  the  right  to  buy  and  sell  freely,  whenever  and 
'wherever  we  please  is  a  crime.  Government  does,  by  its  tariffs, 
annihilate  this  right." 

Having  made  these  specifications,  the  speaker  further 
enforces  them  in  the  most  unqualified  manner — still  tak 
ing  his  standard  of  right  and  wrong  from  his  own  script 
ure-taught  conscience. 

"  Do  I  mean  that  government  shall  invariably  and  absolutely  for 
bid  slavery?  Yes — as  invariably  and  absolutely  as  it  forbids  murder. 

"  Do  I  mean  that  men  have  an  equal  right  to  the  soil?  Yes  ; — 
as  equal  as  to  the  light  and  the  air ;  and  government  should  without 
delay,  prescribe  the  maximum  quantity  of  land  that  each  family  may 
possess. 

"  Do  I  mean  that  a  people  may  repudiate  their  national  debt  ?  I 
do.  No  generation  is  bound  to  enter  on  the  race  of  life,  incumbered 
with  the  dead  weights  of  debt  which  former  generations  have  en 
tailed  on  it.  Wars  which  the  people  who  are  carrying  them  on  be 
lieve  to  be  just,  they  are  willing  to  pay  for  ;  and  therefore,  every  gen 
eration  may  reasonably  be  expected  and  required  to  pay  for  its  own 
wars.  Each  generation  must  be  left  free  to  choose  what  wars  it 
will  engage  in,  and  also  what  canals  and  roads  it  will  build  ;  with 
the  proviso  in  the  one  case  as  in  the  other,  that  it  shall  pay  as  it 
goes — or  to  say  the  least,  that  if  it  makes  debts,  it  shall  pay  them. 
If  no  single  generation  can  build  and  pay  for  an  Erie  Canal,  then  let 
one  generation  build  it  as  far  west  as  Utica  ;  and  the  next  extend  it 
to  Rochester ;  and  the  next  to  Buffalo. 

"Do  I  mean  to  be  understood  as  condemning  all  tariff's?  I  do. 
I  would  not  have  a  custom  house  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  What 
ever  may  be  the  effect  on  its  wealth,  every  nation  is  to  cultivate  the 
freest,  fullest,  friendliest  intercourse  with  every  other  nation.  The 


1 84  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

nations  of  the  earth  constitute,  and  should  feel  that  they  constitute,  a 
brotherhood. 

"  Do  I  mean  that  g<n>ernment  shall  have  nothing  to  do  with 
schools f  I  do.  A  popular  argument  for  government  or  district 
schools  is  that  they  are  a  cheap  police.  I  admit  that  good  schools 
are.  And  so  are  good  churches.  And  since  good  family-government 
is  also  a  cheap  police,  and  a  thousand  fold  more  important  to  this 
end  than  either  schools  or  churches,  or  both  put  together,  why  should 
not  government  take  under  its  supervision  our  family  affairs  also? 

"It  is  asked — what  will  the  poor  do  to  get  their  children  educated 
in  case  government  aid  is  withdrawn  ?  We  answer,  let  them  do  any 
thing  rather  than  hang  upon  government  for  an  education — for  an 
education  which,  because  it  is  governmental,  is  emasculated  of  all 
positive,  earnest,  hearty  religion — for  an  education  in  which,  because 
it  is  governmental,  the  substance  of  morality  is  exchanged  for  the 
show  of  morality — and  in  which  what  is  honest  and  uncompromising 
and  robust  and  manly  in  character  is  made  to  give  place  to  pusil 
lanimity,  effeminacy,  calculation,  baseness. 

"  It  is  justice  and  not  charity  which  the  people  need  at  the  hands 
of  government.  Let  government  restore  to  them  their  land,  and 
what  other  rights  they  have  been  robbed  of,  and  they  will  then  be 
able  to  pay  for  themselves— to  pay  their  schoolmasters  as  well  as 
their  parsons. 

"  Perhaps  it  will  be  asked,  whether  government,  under  my  defi 
nition  of  its  province,  would  be  at  liberty  to  carry  the  mail ;  build 
asylums  ;  improve  harbors  ;  and  build  lighthouses  ?  I  answer  that 
nothing  of  all  this  is,  necessarily,  the  work  of  government.  The 
mail  can  be  carried  as  well  without  as  with  the  help  of  government. 
Some  of  the  best  and  most  extensive  asylums  in  our  country  are 
those  with  which  government  has  nothing  to  do.  And  the  interest 
and  humanity  of  individuals  and  communities  might  be  relied  on  to 
improve  harbors  and  build  lighthouses,  as  well  as  to  keep  bridges 
and  roads  in  repair.  The  work  of  civil  government  is  not  so  much 
to  take  care  of  its  subjects  as  to  leave  them  in  circumstances  in  which 
they  may  take  care  of  themselves  ; — and  not  so  much  to  govern  its 
subjects  as  to  leave  them  free  to  govern  themselves." 

There  remains  then  so  much  room  for  political  ac 
tion,  as  will  allow  the  reformer  to  use  the  powers  of 
government  for  the.  protection  of  persons  and  prop 
erty  against  such  crimes  as  endanger  them  ;  notably 


SLAVERY.  185 

against  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  liquors  that  infuriate 
men  to  riotous  misconduct,  and  reduce  them  to  pauper 
ism, — and  against  slavery  which  is  all  crimes  of  fraud 
and  violence  in  one.  While  honoring  cordially  those 
who  withdraw  from  politics,  and  employ  moral  action 
alone,  he  felt,  for  himself,  entire  liberty  to  call  in  the  aid 
of  government  to  do  what  could  not  be  done  otherwise, 
and  he  worked  hard  to  induce  all  who  felt  as  he  did,  to 
organize  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  their  views  into  effect. 
A  politician  however,  in  the  usual  sense  of  the  word, 
— a  man  that  is,  who  adopts  party  measures,  pursues 
party  ends,  compromises  or  qualifies  his  principle  to  se 
cure  immediate  advantage,  accepts  candidates  according 
to  eligibility,  and  narrows  his  line  of  action  to  the  width 
of  a  single  idea,  or  a  single  aspect  of  an  idea, — he  could 
not  be.  His  philosophy  and  his  conscience  alike  for 
bade.  He  would  join  no  party  whose  standard  was  not 
the  highest,  broadest,  holiest.  He  would  vote  for  no  can 
didate  to  any  office  whatever,  who  was  not  sound  on  all 
moral  issues,  for  to  be  unsound  on  any  one,  was  to  be  less 
than  sound  on  every  one.  He  would  vote  for  no  slave 
holder,  or  apologist  for  slavery,  no  dram-seller  or  distiller, 
no  land-monopolist,  or  man  otherwise  careless  of  human 
rights, — be  the  office  granted  or  sought  for  what  it  might 
be  ;  he  would  not  put  a  pro-slavery  man  into  the  place 
of  town  surveyor, — or  a  dram-seller  on  the  board  of  edu 
cation.  Every  candidate  for  every  office  must  be,  at  the 
root,  a  man  of  principle.  The  sole  function  of  govern 
ment  being  the  protection  of  persons  and  property,  it 
would  he  clearly  inconsistent  to  entrust  its  authority  to 
those  who  were,  in  any  way,  implicated  in  crime.  The 
early  Puritans  of  New  England  were  of  opinion  that  the 


1 86  LIFE  OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

powers  of  government  should  be  in  the  hands  of  church- 
members  alone,  they  best  answering  to  the  description 
of  the  "  saints  "  that  were  to  rule  the  world.  Gerrit 
Smith  gave  a  wider  interpretation  to  the  term  "  saints," 
defining  it  by  no  creed,  profession,  or  evangelical  test. 
Who  the  saints  were,  indeed,  he  would  not  undertake  to 
say.  But  he  would  undertake  to  say  who  they  were 
not;  they  were  not  distillers  or  tipplers  of  rum;  they 
were  not  half-and-half  abolitionists  ;  they  were  not  de- 
frauders,  defaulters,  or  time  servers  ;  they  were  not  at 
heart  indifferent  to  the  common  weal ;  they  were  not 
men  of  war ;  they  were  not  land  monopolists  ;  they  were 
not  hangers  on  of  government,  custom  house  politicians, 
members  of  secret  societies,  holders  of  trusts  with  a  side 
view  to  their  own  interests. 

Such  a  man,  it  is  clear,  had  no  place  among  party  poli 
ticians.  There  was  no  love  to  spare  between  them  and 
him.  In  their  eyes  he  was  an  intractable  visionary,  in 
his  eyes  they  were  shufflers,  worshippers  of  expediency. 
His  experience  in  1831,  when  he  was  defeated  as  candi 
date  for  the  State  Senate,  made  him  sick  of  political  ma 
noeuvring,  and  thereafter  he  "  fought  for  his  own  hand." 

The  "  Liberty  Party  "  was  formed,  under  his  lead, 
in  Jan.  29,  1840,  at  a  convention  held  at  Arcade,  Wy 
oming  County,  New  York.  The  object  of  the  party,  as 
understood  by  him  was  universal  political  reform  ;  as 
understood  by  others,  it  was  simply  the  overthrow  of 
slavery.  It  sprung  out  of  the  conviction  that  neither  of 
the  great  political  parties  was  to  be  trusted  to  deal  with 
slavery,  leaving  other  issues  aside ;  that  the  interrogation 
of  their  candidates  was  never  satisfactory ;  that  the 
pledges  given  were  either  loose  or  dishonest;  and  that 


SLAVERY.  IS/ 

nothing  short  of  pure  moral  principles,  independent  of 
political  arts  and  machinations,  would  answer  the  pur 
pose  of  reform.  In  connection  with  William  Jay,  he 
had,  eighteen  months  before, — Sept.  1838 — written  to 
W.  H.  Seward  and  Luther  Bradish,  candidates  for 
Governor  and  Lieut.-Governor,  asking  their  views  on  the 
slavery  question,  and  had  not  felt  that  the  trouble  was 
altogether  well  bestowed.  The  absence  of  solid,  hearty 
conviction  even  in  right  minded,  well  meaning  men,  and 
the  difficulty  which  even  such  men  found  in  resisting  the 
wiles  or  putting  by  the  sophistries  of  caucus  leaders  was 
to  him  wholly  discouraging.  The  motto  of  the  Liberty 
Party,  devised  by  Mr.  Smith  himself,  was  "  vote  for  no 
slaveholder  for  civil  office — nor  for  any  one  who  thinks 
a  slaveholder  fit  for  it." 

The  full  idea  and  spirit  of  the  party  is  expressed  in  a 
series  of  resolutions  presented  by  Mr.  Smith  at  a  State 
Liberty  Party  Convention,  held  at  Cazenovia,  July  3, 
1849.  The  importance  of  the  subject  justifies  a  full  copy 
of  them.  They  convey  the  whole  mind  of  their  framer  : 

1.  Resolved,  That  we  recognize  the  broadest  principles  of  democ 
racy  and  the  right,  irrespective  of  sex,  or  color,  or  character,  to  par 
ticipate  in  the  selection  of  civil  rulers. 

Passed  unanimously. 

2.  Resolved,  That  when  we  admit  that  our  hope  of  the  establish 
ment  of  righteous  civil  governments  on  the  earth  is  in  the  prevalence 
of  Christianity,  we,  of  course,  do   not  mean  that  spurious,  or  that 
mistaken  Christianity,  which  upholds  unrighteous  civil  governments, 
and  which  votes  civil  offices  into  the  hands  of  anti-abolitionists,  and 
land-monopolists,  and  other  enemies  of  human  rights. 

Passed  unanimously. 

3.  Resolved,  That  by  our  love  of  righteous  civil  government,  of 
God  and  of  man,  we  are  bound  to  frown  upon  the  public  missionary 
associations  of  the  world  ; — nearly  all  their  politically  voting  mem 
bers  voting  on  the  side  of  the  diabolical  conspiracies  which  have,  in 


1 88          LIFE  OF  CERRIT  SMITH. 

all  nations,  usurped  the  place  and  name  of  civil  government — and 
such  conspiracies  being  the  preeminent  hindrance  to  the  establish 
ment  of  righteous  civil  government,  and  to  the  spread  of  human  sal 
vation  and  blessedness. 

Passed  with  but  one  dissenting  voice. 

4.  Resolved,  That    the  government  which  will  not,  or  cannot, 
protect  the  lives  and  property  of  its  subjects  from  the  traffic  in 
intoxicating  drinks,  is  utterly  unworthy  of  the  name  of  civil  gov 
ernment. 

Passed  unanimously. 

5.  Resolved,  That  it  may  be  better  to  resort  to  revolution,  than 
to  submit  to  a  government  which  compels  its  subjects  to  pay  the 
debts  of  their  ancestors. 

Passed  unanimously. 

6.  Resolved,  That  while  we  allow  government  to  draw  on  pos 
terity  for  the  expense  of  wars,  it  is  idle  to  hope  that  there  will  not 
be  wars. 

Passed  unanimously. 

7.  Resolved,  That  no  just  nation  need  lay  its  account  with  being 
ever  involved  in  war ;  and,  hence,  that  no  just  nation  can  have  any 
excuse  or  plea,  whatever,  for  wasting  the  earnings  of  its  subjects 
upon  fortifications  and  standing  armies  and  navies. 

Passed  unanimously. 

8.  Resolved,  That  the  Federal  Constitution  clearly  requires  the 
abolition  of  every  part  of  American  slavery  ;  and  that  the  Phillipses, 
and  Quinceys,  and  Garrisons,  and  Douglasses,  who  throw  away  this 
staff  of  anti-slavery  accomplishment,  and  chime  in  with  the  popular 
cry,  that  the  constitution  is  pro-slavery,  do,  thereby,  notwithstanding 
their  anti-slavery  hearts,  make  themselves  practically  and  effectively 
pro-slavery. 

Passed  unanimously. 

9.  Resolved,  That  law  is  for  the  protection,  not  for  the  destruction 
of  rights  ;  and  that  slavery,  therefore,  inasmuch  as  it  is  the  preemi 
nent   destroyer   of  right,   is    (constitutions,   statutes,  and   judicial 
decisions   to   the    contrary  notwithstanding)   utterly  incapable   of 
legalization. 

10.  Resolved,  That  whether  men  cry  "  no  political  union  with 
slaveholders,"  or  "  no  political  union  with  gamblers,"  or  "  no  polit 
ical  union  with  drunkards/'  they  do,  in  each  case,  proceed  upon  the 
absurd  supposition,  that,  instead  of  being  necessarily  identified  with 
the  whole  body  politic  in  which  their  lot  is  cast,  they  are  at  liberty 
to  choose  their  partners  in  it,  and  to  dissolve  their  national  or  state 


SLAVERY.  189 

tie  with  this  slaveholder  in  Massachusetts,  or  that  gambler  in  Penn 
sylvania,  or  that  drunkard  in  Virginia. 
Passed  unanimously. 

11.  Resolved,  T\\2.\.  land-monopoly  is  to  be  warred  against,  not 
only  because  it  is  the  most  wide-spread  of  all  oppressions,  but  be 
cause  it  is  preeminently  fruitful  of  other  forms  of  oppression. 

Passed  unanimously. 

12.  Resolved,  That  the  governments  which  deny  to  their  subjects 
the  liberty  to  buy  and  sell  freely  in  all  the  markets  of  the  world,  are 
guilty  of  invading  a  natural  and  a  precious  right. 

Passed  unanimously. 

13.  Resolved,  That  government  will  never  be  administered  hon 
estly  and  economically,  until  its  expenses  are  defrayed  by  direct  taxes  ; 
and  that  said  taxes,  to  be  justly  assessed,  must  be  assessed  according 
to  the  ability  of  the  payers,  rather  than  according  to  their  property. 

Passed  unanimously. 

14.  Resolved,  That  not  only  is  it  true,  that  the  member  of  a  pro- 
slavery  church  is  untrusty  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  but  that,  (con 
sidering  how,  with  rare  exceptions,  sectarians  yield  to  their  strong 
temptations  to  sacrifice  truth  and  humanity  on  the  altar  of  sect)  it  is 
also  true,  that  the  member  of  a  sectarian  church  is  not  to  be  fully 
relied  on  for  unswerving  fidelity  to  the  cause  of  righteousness. 

Passed  unanimously. 

1 5.  Resolved,  That  the  genius  both  of  Republicanism  and  Chris 
tianity  forbids  concealment,  and  that  secret  societies,  therefore,  do 
not  only  not  promote  either,  but  do  hinder  and  endanger  both. 

Passed  unanimously. 

1 6.  Resolved,  That  our  only  hope  of  the  Whig  and  Democratic 
parties — parties  so  long  wedded  to  slavery  and  other  stupendous 
wrongs — is  in  their  breaking  up  and  ruin. 

Passed  unanimously. 

17.  Resolved,  That,  whilst  we  rejoice  in  the  faithful  testimonies 
and  efficient  labors  of  the  Free  Soil  Party,  against  the  extension  of 
slavery,  it  must,  nevertheless,  be  a  poor,  unnatural,  absurd,  inhuman, 
anti-republican,  unchristian  party,  until  it  array  itself  against  the 
existence  as  well  as  against  the  extension  of  slavery. 

Passed  unanimously. 

1 8.  Resolved,  That  the  Liberty  Party,  though  reduced  in  num 
bers,  is  not  reduced  in  principles  or  usefulness — nor  in  the  confi 
dence,  that  its  honest  and  earnest  endeavors  for  a  righteous  civil 
government,  will  yet  be  crowned  with  triumph. 

Passed  unanimously. 


LIFE-  OF  GERR1T  SMITH. 

19.  Resolved,  That,  whilst  we  respect  the  motives  of  those  who 
propose  to  supply  the  slaves  with  the  Bible,  we,  nevertheless,  can 
have  no  sympathy  with  an  undertaking  which,  inasmuch  as  it  im 
plies  the  pernicious  falsehood  that  the  slave  enjoys  the  right  of  prop 
erty  and  the  right  to  read,  goes  to  relieve  slavery,  in  the  public  mind, 
of  more  than  half  its  horrors  and  more  than  half  its  odium. 

Passed,  but  not  unanimously. 

20.  Resolved,  That,  instead  of  sending  Bibles  among  the  slaves, 
we  had  infinitely  better  adopt  the  suggestion  in  the  memorable  Lib 
erty-Party  Address  to  the  slaves,  and  supply  them  with  pocket-com 
passes,  and,  moreover,  if  individual  or  private  self-defence  be  ever 
justifiable,  and  on  their  part  ever  expedient,  with  pocket-pistols 
also — to  the  end,  that,  by  such  helps,  they  may  reach  a  land  where 
they  can  both  own  the  Bible  and  learn  to  read  it. 

Passed,  but  not  unanimously. 

21.  Resolved,  That  we  welcome  the  appearance  of  the  book,  en 
titled,  "  The  Democracy  of  Christianity  ;"  and  that  we  should  rejoice 
to  see  every  member  of  the  Liberty  Party  supplying  himself  with  a 
copy  of  it. 

Whereas,  Lysander  Spooner,  of  Massachusetts,  that  man  of 
honest  heart  and  acute  and  profound  intellect,  has  published  a  per 
fectly  conclusive  legal  argument  against  the  constitutionality  of 
slavery : 

22.  Resolved,  therefore,  that  we  warmly  recommend  to  the  friends 
of  freedom,  in  this  and  other  States,  to  supply,  within   the  coming 
six  months,  each  lawyer  in  their  respective  counties  with  a  copy  of 
said  argument. 

Passed  unanimously. 

23.  Resolved,  That  we  recommend  that  a  National  Liberty  Party 
Convention  be  held  in  the  city  of  Syracuse,  on  the  $d  and  4th  days 
of  July,  1850,  for  the  purpose  of  nominating  candidates  for  President 
and  Vice  President,  and  of  adopting  other  measures  in  behalf  of  the 
cause  of  righteous  civil  government. 

Passed  unanimously. 

24.  Resolved,  That  a  State  Liberty  Party  Convention  be  held  in 
the  village  of  Cortland,  on  the  first  Wednesday  of  next  September, 
for  nominating  State  officers,  and  for  other  business. 

Passed  unanimously. 

25.  Resolved,  That,  not  only  with   our  Irish   brother  and   our 
Italian  brother,  under  their  heavy  and  galling  loads  of  civil  and 
ecclesiastical  despotism,  do  we  sympathize,  but,  also,  with  our  fel 
low-men  everywhere — for,  everywhere,  in  our  priest,  and  demagogue, 


SLAVERY.  IQI 

and  despot  ridden  world,  are  our  fellow-men  suffering  under  civil  or 
ecclesiastical  despotism,  or  both  ;    and  nowhere  in  it  is  enjoyed  the 
priceless  and  two-fold  blessing  of  Christian  democracy  in  the  State, 
and  Democratic  Christianity  in  the  Church. 
Passed  unanimously. 

26.  Resolved,  That  unwillingness  to  use  the  products  of  slave 
labor  is  a  beautiful  and  effective  testimony  against  slavery. 

Passed  unanimously. 

Whereas,  we  rejoice  to  see  the  first  number  of  the  "  Liberty 
Party  Paper" — a  paper  which,  we  doubt  not,  will  faithfully  rep 
resent,  and  ably  inculcate  the  principles  of  the  Liberty  Party  : 

27.  Resolved,  therefore,  that  we  call  on  all  the  members  of  the 
Liberty   Party   to   regard    it  as    their   first    duty  to    that  party,  to 
subscribe  for,  and  endeavor  to  induce  others  to  subscribe  for,  this 
paper. 

Passed  unanimously. 

28.  Resolved,  That  we  hear  with  profound  sorrow,  of  the  very 
severe,  if  not  indeed  entirely  hopeless,  sickness  of  our  honored  and 
beloved  James  G.  Birney — a  man  who,  for  his  wisdom,  integrity, 
high  and  heroic  bearing,  deserves  a  distinguished  place  in  the  regards 
of  his  fellow-men. 

Passed  by  a  unanimous  standing  vote. 

29.  Resolved,  That  we  honor  the  memory  of  Alvan  Stewart,  who, 
for   so   many  years  employed  his  remarkably  original   and    vigor 
ous   powers  in  promoting  the  cause  of  liberty  and  the  cause  of 
temperance. 

Passed  unanimously  by  a  standing  vote. 

SAMUEL  WELLS,  Pres. 


S.  R.  Ward,  )  s     , 

W.  W.  Chapman,  > 


A.  KlNGSBURY,  ,  v    p 

J.  C.  HARRINGTON,  ^  v<  r 


That  a  party  based  on  principles  so  radical  and  so 
abstract  should  hold  together  long,  or  achieve  defi 
nite  political  results,  could  not  be  expected.  In  fact,  it 
did  neither.  At  the  very  first  general  election  after  the 
party  was  organized,  many  of  its  enrolled  members  vo 
ted  for  Harrison  and  Tyler,  Whig  candidates,  neither  of 
them  anti-slavery  men,  and  the  first  a  soldier.  Four 


IQ2  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

years  afterwards,  when  Henry  Clay  was  the  Whig  candi 
date,  so  many  voted  for  him  as  to  threaten  the  very 
existence  of  the  Liberty  Party.  In  New  Hampshire 
Liberty  Party  men  elected  a  Whig  Governor,  to  the  deep 
disgust  of  Mr.  Smith,  who  preferred  to  be  beaten  witJi 
his  candidate  than  by  him,  thinking  defeat  through  fidel 
ity  to  principles  better  than  victory  through  their  be 
trayal.  In  the  same  state  Liberty  Party  men  helped 
the  Whigs  elect  General  Wilson  to  Congress.  In  Massa 
chusetts  they  preferred  John  G.  Palfrey,  whom  Mr. 
Smith  characterized  as  "  an  unrepentant  voter  for  Henry 
Clay,"  to  James  G.  Carter,  "  that  accomplished,  tried 
and  able  friend  of  the  slave."  Mr.  Smith  complained 
that  Liberty  Party  men  by  hundreds  and  thousands, 
voted  pro-slavery  tickets  that  they  might  aid  the  cause  of 
temperance  ;  that  the  vast  majority  of  them  were  eager 
to  entrust  the  Whigs  with  the  task  of  framing  the  funda 
mental  law  of  the  State,  and  that  he  himself  had  been 
stigmatized  by  the  Liberty  Party  press  as  a  calumniator 
because  he  held  the  party  to  its  highest  responsibilities. 
For  years  the  burden  of  the  leader's  speeches  and  let 
ters  was  reproach  against  the  party  for  its  infidelities 
and  backslidings ;  but  he  would  not  desert  it.  In  1847, 
William  Goodell  pronounced  the  Liberty  Party  dead  and 
buried,  with  a  solemn  verdict  of  suicide,  and  adjured 
Mr.  Smith  to  let  it  rest,  and  to  help  in  forming  another 
party  on  a  better  basis.  But  his  friend  would  not  con 
sent.  In  1848,  at  Buffalo,  he  reiterated  the  original  doc 
trines  of  the  party,  declared  that  it  was  popular  not 
local,  national  not  sectional,  permanent  not  temporary, 
comprehensive  not  partisan ;  that  it  simply  enunciated 
the  principles  of  the  founders  of  the  government,  and 


SLAVERY.  193 

though  sadly  demoralized,  was  not  irretrievably  ruined. 
In  1849,  though  the  vote  in  the  town  of  Smithfield  had 
been  reduced  from  one  hundred  and  eighty  to  forty,  and 
of  the  forty  all  were  not  faithful  to  the  "  whole  gospel  " 
of  the  party,  some  being  members  of  churches  which 
bore  no   open  testimony  against  slavery,  and  others  en 
gaged  in  the  business  of  supplying  grain  for  the  distil 
leries, — still  the  loyal  few  met  and  chose  local  officers. 
In  1851,  at  a  convention  held  by  the   Liberty  Party  in 
Buffalo,  he  was  nominated   as   President  of  the  United 
States,  as  he  had  been  in  1848.     In  1860  the  party  was 
still  alive,  and    he  wrote  a    sympathizing,  encouraging 
letter  to  the  convention  held  at  Syracuse  in  August  of 
that  year  ;  but  it  had  no  vitality.     In  fact  it  was  never  a 
power  in  the  country.     It   demanded   too  much  of  its 
constituency,  and  stretched  itself  along  a  too  extended 
line.     Its   controlling  spirits    were    enthusiasts,  fanatics 
in  two  or  three  instances,  who  could  neither  follow  lead 
ers  nor  lead  followers.     Mr.  Smith,  the  largest  of  them, 
was  no  manager,  tactician  or  diplomatist,  but  a  warm 
hearted,  strong-souled  agitator  who  held  moral  interests 
to  be  supreme,  and  despised  above  all  things  the  arts  of 
the  politician.     In  the  dispute  on  the  question  whether 
one  should  stand  by  pure  principle  at  the  imminent  risk 
of  losing  a  partial  advantage,  or  should  secure  the  par 
tial  advantage   at  the   risk  of  compromising   the   pure 
principle,  he  placed  himself  unhesitatingly  with  the  de 
votees  of  principle,  though  men  whom  he  revered  chose 
the  other  side.     Theodore   Parker,  in    1848,  voted   for 
Martin    Van   Buren  in  the  hope  of  achieving  a  partial 
triumph  for  the   "Free   Soil"  party;   Gerrit  Smith,   in 
1844,  refused  to  support  Henry  Clay  and  thereby  pre- 
9 


194  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

vented  an  election  from  which  men  like  W.  H.  Seward 
anticipated  the  best  results  to  the  anti-slavery  cause. 

The  "  Industrial  Congress  "  at  Philadelphia,  nomi 
nated  him  for  president  in  1848;  the  Land  Reformers 
nominated  him  in  1856.  Both  invitations  were  declined 
on  the  plea  of  disinclination  to  public  life,  and  the  pres 
sure  of  private  affairs.  The  anti-slavery  State  Conven 
tion  at  Syracuse,  in  1840,  put  him  in  nomination  for 
Governor  against  his  will.  But  when  the  State  mass 
convention,  at  Syracuse,  nominated  him  in  1858,  he  ac 
cepted  it  with  a  "  hopeful  and  courageous  heart,"  in  face 
of  the  fact  that  not  a  single  paper  in  the  State,  daily  or 
weekly,  advocated  the  running  of  an  "  abolition  or  pro 
hibitory  "  ticket.  He  accepted  it  on  principle,  and  be 
cause  the  circumstances  were  desperate  ;  accepted  it  in 
the  faith  that  frank,  bold,  persuasive  speech  backed  by 
moral  truth  would  be  more  than  a  match  for  the  whole 
power  of  the  press.  And,  in  accepting  the  nomination 
he  accepted  the  suggestion  that  the  candidate  shall 
"  canvass  the  State,  and  meet  the  masses  of  the  people 
in  their  several  counties,  to  discuss  before  them,  and 
with  whomsoever  shall  question  him,  the  principles,  meas 
ures  and  policy  which  should  characterize  the  adminis 
tration  of  the  government  of  the  great  State  of  New 
York." 

It  was  hard  work,  but  he  girded  himself  manfully  for 
it.  He  began  his  task  on  the  1 5th  of  August,  and  ended 
it  on  the  2d  of  November,  having  attended  fifty-three 
meetings,  travelled  some  four  thousand  miles,  and  spent 
between  four  and  five  thousand  dollars,  paying  of  course 
all  expenses  from  his  private  purse.  The  meetings  were 
long,  exciting  and  exhausting,  for  his  heart  was  in  the 


SLAVERY.  195 

work,  and  he  answered  all  questions  on  all  subjects,  with 
that  absolute  candor  which  was  characteristic  of  him. 
He  begged,  as  on  his  knees,  for  votes.  Yet  the  result 
was  a  complete  overthrow.  In  some  counties  not  a  sin 
gle  man  voted  his  ticket.  Old  friends  and  fellow-labor 
ers  in  the  causes  of  abolition  and  temperance  turned 
the  cold  shoulder  on  him,  and  even  reproached  him  for 
obstructing  the  measures  he  was  hoping  to  advocate. 
On  the  day  of  election,  the  Republican  candidate  receiv 
ed  two  hundred  and  forty-seven  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  sixty-eight  votes  ;  the  Democratic  candidate  received 
two  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  three  hundred  and 
twenty-nine  votes;  the  "American"  candidate  received 
sixty-one  thousand  one  hundred  and  thirty-seven ;  the 
4t  Independent  "  candidate,  Mr.  Smith,  received  five 
thousand  four  hundred  and  forty-six. 

All  the  parties  were  against  him  ;  not  alone  the  great 
parties  Democratic  and  Whig,  but  the  Free  Soilers,  and 
the  Abolitionists  who  did  not  vote  at  all.  In  fact,  as 
family  quarrels  are  proverbially  the  bitterest,  so  the  an 
imosity  was  particularly  cordial  between  these  diverse 
champions  of  a  common  cause.  The  following  letters, 
one  addressed  to  an  eminent  abolitionist,  the  other  to  a 
conspicuous  Free  Soiler,  disclose  the  state  of  feeling 
that  existed  when  they  were  written.  Such  was  the 
way  in  which  honorable  men  wrote  to  and  about  one 
another.  The  letters  are  long,  but  they  represent  both 
sides  of  the  controversy,  one  by  implication,  the  other 
by  direct  language.  No  one  will  be  surprised  at  their 
tone  who  recalls  the  political  condition  of  the  country 
when  they  were  written  ;  the  years  immediately  preced 
ing  the  hour  of  most  imminent  peril. 


196  LIFE  OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 


Peterboro,  October  33,  1846. 

Hon.  STEPHEN  C.  PHILLIPS,  of  Salem,  Mass. : 

Dear  Sir  —  This  day's  mail  brings  me  the  speech  which  you  de 
livered  at,  the  meeting  recently  assembled  at  Faneuil  Hall  to  consider 
the  outrage  of  kidnapping  a  man  in  the  streets  of  Boston. 

I  am  not  insensible  to  the  ability,  eloquence,  beauty,  of  this 
speech  :— and  yet  it  fails  of  pleasing  me.  The  meeting,  after  I  saw 
its  proceedings,  was  no  longer  an  object  of  my  pleasant  contempla 
tions.  Indeed,  Massachusetts  herself  has  ceased  to  be  such  an  ob 
ject.  There  was  a  time,  when,  among  all  commonwealths,  she  was 
my  beau  ideal.  Her  wisdom,  integrity,  bravery — in  short,  her  whole 
history,  from  her  bud  in  the  Mayflower  to  the  blossoms  and  fruits 
with  which  a  ripe  civilization  has  adorned  and  enriched  her — made 
her  the  object  of  my  warm  and  unmeasured  admiration.  But,  a 
change  has  come  over  her.  Alas,  how  great  and  sad  a  one  !  She 
has  sunk  her  ancient  worth  and  glory  in  her  base  devotion  to  Mam 
mon  and  Party. 

When,  in  the  year  1835,  one  of  her  sons — that  son  to  whom  she, 
not  to  say  this  whole  nation,  owes  more  than  to  any  other  person, 
was,  for  his  honest,  just,  and  fearless  assaults  on  slavery,  driven  by 
infuriate  thousands  through  the  streets  of  her  metropolis  with  a 
halter  round  his  neck,  Massachusetts  looked  on,  applauding.  So 
far  was  she  from  disclaiming  the  mob  that  she  boasted,  that  her 
"gentlemen  of  .property  and  standing  "  composed  it.  Indeed,  one 
of  her  first  acts  after  the  mob,  was  to  choose  for  her  governor  the 
man  who  promptly  rewarded  her  for  this  choice  by  his  official  recom 
mendation  to  treat  abolitionists  as  criminals.  . 

Massachusetts  was  not,  however,  lost  to  shame.  It  was  not  in 
vain  that  the  finger  of  scorn  was  pointed  at  her  for  this  mob  and 
for  other  demonstrations  of  her  pro-slavery.  For  very  decency's 
sake,  she  began  to  adjust  her  dress,  and  put  on  better  appearances. 
Indeed,  anti-slavery  sentiment  became  the  order  of  the  day  with 
her :  and,  from  her  chief  statesman  down  to  her  lowest  demagogue, 
all  tried  their  skill  in  uttering  big  words  against  slavery.  But,  the 
hollowest  sentiment  and  the  merest  prating  constituted  the  whole 
warp  and  woof  of  this  pretended  and  unsubstantial  opposition  to 
slavery.  Massachusetts  still  remained  the  slave  of  Party  and  Mam 
mon.  She  would  still  vote  for  slaveholders,  rather  than  break  up 
the  national  parties  to  which  she  was  wedded.  She  would  still 
make  every  concession  to  the  slave  power  to  induce  it  to  spare  her 
manufactures. 


SLA  VER  Y.  197 

A  fine  occasion  was  afforded  Massachusetts,  a  tew  years  ago,  to 
talk  her  anti-slavery  words,  and  display  her  anti-slavery  sentiment ; 
and  right  well  did  she  improve  it.  I  refer  to  the  casting  of  the 
fugitive  slave  George  Latimer  into  one  of  her  jails.  Instantly  did 
she  show  anti-slavery  colors.  She  was  anti-slavery  all  over,  and  to 
the  very  core  also,  as  a  stranger  t6  her  ways  would  have  thought. 
But  beneath  all  her  manifestations  of  generous  regard  for  the 
oppressed,  she  continued  to  be  none  the  less  bound  up  in  avarice — 
none  the  less  servile  to  the  South.  The  first  opportunity  she  had  to 
do  so,  she  again  voted  for  slaveholders. 

Then  came  the  project  to  annex  Texas.  The  slaveholders  de 
manded  more  territory  to  soak  with  the  sweat  and  tears  and  blood 
of  the  poor  African.  This  was  another  occasion  for  Massachusetts 
to  make  another  anti-slavery  bluster.  She  made  it : — and  then  voted 
for  Clay — for  the  very  man  who  had  done  unspeakably  more  than 
any  other  man  to  extend  and  perpetuate  the  dominion  of  American 
slavery.  As  a  specimen  of  her  heartlessness,  in  this  instance  of  her 
anti-slavery  parade,  her  present  Whig  Governor,  who  was  among 
the  foremost  and  loudest  to  condemn  this  scheme  of  annexation, 
is  now  calling,  in  the  name  of  patriotism,  on  his  fellow-citizens  to 
consummate  it  by  murdering  the  unoffending  Mexicans. 

Next  came  the  expulsion  of  her  commissioners  from  Charleston 
and  New  Orleans.  Again  she  blustered  for  a  moment.  She  de 
nounced  slavery  and  the  South.  She  boasted  of  herself,  as  if  she 
still  wrere  what  she  had  been ;  as  if  "  modern  degeneracy  had  not 
reached  "  her.  But,  the  sequel  proved  her  hypocrisy  and  baseness. 
After  a  little  time,  she  quietly  pocketed  the  insult,  and  was  as  ready 
as  ever  to  vote  for  slaveholders. 

I  will  refer  to  but  one  more  of  the  many  opportunities  which 
Massachusetts  has  had  to  prove  herself  worthy  of  her  former  history. 
It  is  that  which  called  out  your  present  speech.  This  was  emphat 
ically  an  opportunity  for  Massachusetts  to  show  herself  to  be  an 
anti- slavery  State.  But  she  had  not  a  heart  to  improve  it.  Her 
own  citizens  in  the  very  streets  of  her  own  gloried-in  city,  had  chased 
down  a  man,  and  bound  him,  and  plunged  him  into  the  pit  of  per 
petual  slavery.  The  voice  of  such  a  deed,  sufficient  to  rend  her 
rocks,  and  move  her  mountains,  could  not  startle  the  dead  soul  of 
her  people.  They  are  the  fast  bound  slaves  of  Mammon  and  Party. 
True,  a  very  great  meeting  was  gathered  in  Faneuil  Hall.  Eloquent 
speeches  were  made ;  and  a  committee  of  vigilance  was  appointed. 
But  nothing  was  done  to  redeem  herself  from  her  degeneracy  :  noth 
ing  to  recall  to  her  loathsome  carcass  the  great  and  glorious  spirit 


198  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

which  had  departed  from  it ;  nothing  was  done  for  the  slave.  When 
the  year  1848  shall  come  round,  Massachusetts,  if  still  impenitent, 
will  be  as  ready  to  vote  for  the  slaveholders  whom  the  South  shall 
then  bid  her  vote  for,  as  she  was  to  do  so  in  1844. 

Your  great  meeting  was  a  farce  ; — and  will  you  pardon  me,  if  I 
cite  your  own  speech  to  prove  it?  That  speech,  which  denounces 
your  fellow-citizen  for  stealing  one  man,  was  delivered  by  a  gentle 
man,  who  (risum  teneatis  ?)  contends,  that  a  person  who  steals 
hundreds  of  men  is  fit  to  be  President  of  the  United  States  !  It  is 
ludicrous,  beyond  all  parallel,  that  he,  who  would  crown  with  the 
highest  honors  the  very  prince  of  kidnappers,  should,  with  a  grave 
face,  hold  up  to  the  public  abhorrence  the  poor  man,  who  has  only 
just  begun  to  try  his  hand  at  kidnapping.  Then,  your  contemptuous 
tearing  towards  Captain  Hannum  and  his  employers  ! — how  affected  ! 
If  you  shall  not  be  utterly  insensible  to  the  claims  of  consistency, 
who,  when  you  shall  have  Henry  Clay  to  dine  with  you,  will  you 
allow  to  be  better  entitled  than  this  same  Captain  Hannum  and  his 
employers  to  seats  at  your  table?  Cease,  my  dear  sir,  from  your 
outrages  on  consistency.  You  glory  in  Mr.  Clay.  How  can  you 
then  despise  and  reproach  those  who,  with  however  much  of  the 
awkwardness  of  beginners,  are,  nevertheless,  doing  their  best  to  step 
forward  in  the  tracks  of  their  "illustrious  predecessor?" 

It  would  be  very  absurd— would  it  not? — for  you  to  denounce 
the  stealing  of  a  single  sheep,  at  the  same  time  that  you  are  count 
ing  as  worthy  of  all  honor  the  man  who  steals  a  whole  flock  of  sheep. 
But,  I  put  it  to  your  candor,  whether  it  would  be  a  whit  more  ab- 
surd  than  is  your  deep  loathing  and  unutterable  contempt  of  Captain 
Hannum  and  his  employers  for  a  crime,  which,  though  incessantly 
repeated  and  infinitely  aggravated  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Clay,  does  not 
disqualify  him,  in  your  esteem,  to  be  the  chief  ruler  of  this  nation — • 
to  be,  what  the  civil  ruler  is  required  to  be — "  the  minister  of  God." 

You  intimate,  that  the  State  Prison  is  the  proper  place  for  Cap 
tain  Hannum  and  his  employers.  And  do  you  not  think  it  the  proper 
place  for  Henry  Clay  also  ?  Out  upon  partiality,  if,  because  he  is 
your  candidate  for  the  presidency,  you  would  not  have  this  old  and 
practical  man-thief  punished,  as  well  as  those  who  are  but  in  their 
first  lessons  of  his  horrid  piracy  ! 

To  be  serious,  Mr.  Phillips — -you  arc  not  the  man  to  have  to  do 
with  Captain  Hannum  and  his  employers,  unless  it  is  to  set  them  an 
example  of  repentance.  It  becomes  you  not  to  look  down  upon  them 
— but  to  take  your  seat  by  their  side,  and  to  bow  your  head  as  low 
as  shame  and  sorrow  should  bow  theirs.  No— if  Captain  Hannum 


SLAVERY.  199 

and  his  employers  should  steal  a  man  every  remaining  day  of  their 
lives,  they  could  not  do  as  much  to  sanction  and  perpetuate  the 
crime  of  man-stealing,  as  the  honored  and  influential  Stephen  C. 
Phillips  has  done  by  laboring  to  elect  to  the  highest  civil  office  the 
very  man  stealer,  who  has  contributed  far  more  than  any  other  living 
person  to  make  man-stealing  reputable,  and  to  widen  the  theatre  of 
its  horrors. 

Alas,  what  a  pity  to  lose  such  an  occasion  for  good  as  was 
afforded  by  this  instance  of  kidnapping.  That  was  the  occasion 
for  you  and  other  distinguished  voters  for  slaveholders  to  employ 
the  power  of  your  own  repentance  in  bringing  other  pro-slavery 
voters  to  repentance.  That  was  the  occasion  for  your  eyes  to  stream 
with  contrite  sorrow,  and  your  lips  to  exclaim  :  "  We  have  sinned  : — 
we  have  sinned  against  God  and  the  slave  : — we  have  not  sought  to 
have  Civil  Government  look  after  the  poor,  and  weak,  and  oppressed, 
and  crushed  : — but  we  have  perverted  and  degraded  it  from  this 
high,  and  holy,  and  heaven-intended  use,  to  the  low  purposes  of 
money-making  and  to  the  furtherance  of  the  selfish  schemes  of  am 
bition  :  we  have  not  chosen  for  rulers  men  who,  in  their  civil  office, 
as  Josiah  in  his,  'judged  the  cause  of  the  poor  and  needy'— men 
who,  in  their  civil  office,  could  say,  as  did  Job  in  his,  '  I  was  a  father 
to  the  poor ' — '  I  brake  the  jaws  of  the  wicked  and  plucked  the  spoil 
out  of  his  teeth  ' — but  we  have  chosen  our  Clays  and  our  Polks — 
pirates,  who  rob,  and  buy  and  sell,  the  poor — monsters,  who,  with 
their  sharks'  teeth  devour  the  poor."  Deny,  doubt,  evade  it,  as  you 
will — you  may,  nevertheless,  my  dear  sir,  depend  upon  it,  that  it  is 
for  your  repentance  and  the  repentance  of  all  the  voters  for  slave 
holders,  that  God  calls.  He  calls,  also,  for  the  repentance  of  the 
American  ministry,  that  so  wickedly  and  basely  refuses  to  preach 
Bible  politics,  and  to  insist  on  the  true  and  heaven-impressed  char 
acter  of  Civil  Government.  Depend  upon  it,  my  dear  sir,  that  your 
disease  and  theirs  is  one  which  can  be  cured  by  no  medicine  short 
of  the  medicine  of  repentance.  I  am  not  unaware  that  this  is  a  most 
offensive  and  humbling  medicine — especially  to  persons  in  the  higher 
walks  of  life ; — nevertheless,  you  and  they  must  take  it  or  remain' 
uncured.  No  clamor  against  Captain  Hannum  and  his  employers — 
no  attempt  to  make  scape-goats  of  them — will  avail  to  cure  you. 

Alas,  what  a  pity  that  a  mere  farce  should  have  taken  the  place 
of  the  great  and  solemn  measure  which  was  due  from  your  meeting  ! 
Had  your  meeting  felt,  that  the  time  for  trifling  on  the  subject  of 
slavery  is  gone  by ;  and  had  it  passed,  honestly  and  heartily,  the 
Resolution  :  "  No  -voting  for  slaveholders,  nor  for  those  who  are  in 


200  LIFE  OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

political  fellowship  with  slaveholders"  it  would  have  had  the  honor 
of  giving  the  death-blow  to  American  slavery.  This  resolution, 
passed  by  such  a  meeting,  would  have  electrified  the  whole  nation. 
Within  all  its  limits  every  true  heart  would  have  responded  to  it,  and 
every  false  one  been  filled  with  shame. 

When  the  glorious  Missionary,  William  Knibb,  had  seen  the 
slaveholders  tear  down  and  burn  a  large  share  of  the  chapels  in 
Jamaica,  he  set  sail  for  Great  Britain.  Scarcely  had  he  landed,  ere 
he  began  the  cry,  "  Slavery  is  incompatible  with  Christianity"  He 
went  over  his  native  land,  uttering  this  cry.  A  mighty  cry  it  was. 
The  walls  of  British  slavery  felt  its  power  as  certainly  as  did  the 
walls  of  Jericho  the  shout  by  which  it  was  prostrated. 

The  power  of  the  cry:  "  No  voting  for  slaveholders,  nor  for 
those  who  are  in  poJitical  fellowship  with  slaveholders,"  would, 
were  it  to  proceed  from  the  right  lips,  be  as  effective  against  the 
walls  of  American  slavery,  as  was  the  cry  of  William  Knibb  against 
the  walls  of  British  slavery.  You,  and  Charles  Sumner,  (I  know 
and  love  him,)  and  Charles  Francis  Adams,  and  John  G.  Palfrey, 
are  the  men  to  utter  this  cry.  Go,  without  delay,  over  the  whole 
length  and  breadth  of  your  State,  pouring  these  talismanic  words 
into  the  ears  of  the  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  who  shall  flock 
to  hear  you  ;  and  Massachusetts  will,  even  at  the  approaching  elec 
tion,  reject  all  her  pro-slavery  candidates.  Such  is  the  power  of 
truth,  when  proceeding  from  honored  and  welcome  lips  ! 

Be  in  earnest,  ye  Phillipses  and  Sumners  and  Adamses  and  Pal 
freys—be  entirely  in  earnest,  in  your  endeavors  to  overthrow  slavery. 
You  desire  its  overthrow,  and  are  doing  something  to  promote  it. 
But  you  lack  the  deep  and  indispensable  earnestness  ;  and,  there 
fore,  do  you  shrink  from  employing  the  bold  and  revolutionary 
means  which  the  case  demands.  No  inferior  means  however,  will 
accomplish  the  object.  As  well  set  your  babies  to  catch  Leviathans 
with  pin-hooks,  as  attempt  to  overthrow  American  slavery  by  means 
which  fall  below  the  stern  and  steadfast  purpose :  "  Not  to  vote  for 
slaveholders,  nor  for  those  who  are  in  political  fellowship  with 
slaveholders.''  But,  only  press  the  hearts  of  your  fellow-men  with 
this,  the  solemn  and  immovable  purpose  of  your  own  hearts — and 
fallen  Massachusetts  rises  again — and  American  slavery  dies— and 
your  names  are  written  in  everduring  letters  among  the  names  of 
the  saviors  of  your  country. 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

GERRIT  SMITH. 


SLAVERY.  201 

Peterboro,  Nov.  33,  1846. 

EDMUND  QUINCY,  Esq.,  of  Massachusetts  : 

Dear  Sir,  —  I  have  this  evening,  read  your  letter  to  me,  in  the  last 
Liberator.  I  am  so  busy  in  making  preparations  to  leave  home  for 
a  month  or  two,  that  my  reply  must  be  brief.  A  reply  I  must  make 
— for  you  might  construe  my  silence  into  discourtesy  and  unfriend 
liness. 

From  your  remark,  that  you  have  not  seen  my  "  recent  writings 
and  speeches/"  I  infer,  that  you  do  not  deign  to  cast  a  look  upon  the 
newspapers  of  the  Liberty  Party.  Your  proud  and  disdainful  state 
of  mind  toward  this  party  accounts  for  some  of  the  mistakes  in  your 
letter.  For  instance,  were  you  a  reader  of  its  newspapers,  you  would 
not  charge  me  with  "  irreverently  "  using  the  term  "  Bible  politics." 
You  evidently  suppose  that  I  identify  the  federal  constitution  and 
the  Liberty  Party  with  the  politics  of  the  Bible.  But,  in  my  dis 
courses  on  "  Bible  politics,"  which,  to  no  small  extent,  are  made  up 
directly  from  the  pages  of  the  Bible,  I  seek  but  to  show  what  are  the 
Heaven-intended  uses  of  civil  government,  and  what  are  the  neces 
sary  qualifications  of  those  who  administer  it.  So  far  are  these  dis 
courses  from  commending  the  constitution,  or  the  Liberty  Party,  that 
they  do  not  so  much  as  allude  either  to  the  one  or  to  the  other. 
Again,  were  you  a  reader  of  the  newspapers  of  this  party,  you  would 
know  its  name.  You  would  in  that  case  know,  that  "  Liberty 
Party  "  is  the  name,  which,  from  the  first,  it  has  chosen  for  itself; 
and  that  "  Third  Party  "  is  only  a  nickname,  which  low-minded  per 
sons  have  given  to  it.  You  well  know,  that  there  are  low-minded 
persons,  who,  seeing  nothing  in  the  good  man  who  is  the  object  of 
their  hatred,  for  that  hatred  to  seize  upon,  will  try  to  harm  him  by 
nicknaming  him.  It  is  such  as  these,  whose  malice  toward  the  Lib 
erty  Party  has,  for  want  of  argument  against  that  truth-espousing 
and  self-sacrificing  party,  vented  itself  in  a  nickname.  Be  assured, 
my  dear  sir,  that  I  have  no  hard  feelings  toward  you  for  misnaming 
my  party.  You  are  a  gentleman  ;  and  your  error  is,  therefore,  purely 
unintentional.  Upon  your  innocent  ignorance — too  easy  and  credu 
lous  in  this  instance,  I  admit — the  base  creatures  who  coined  this 
nickname,  have  palmed  it  as  the  real  name  of  the  Liberty  Party. 
You  are  a  gentleman  ;  and  hence,  as  certainly  as  your  good  breeding 
accords  to  every  party,  however  little  and  despised,  the  privilege  of 
naming  itself,  so  certainly,  when  you  are  awake  to  this  deception 
which  has  been  practiced  upon  your  credulity,  you  will  be  deeply  in 
dignant  at  it.  I  see,  from  his  late  speech  in  Faneuil  Hall,  that  even 
Mr.  Webster  has  fallen  into  the  mistake  of  taking  :<  Third  Party  " 

9* 


2O2  LIFE  OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

to  be  the  name  of  the  Liberty  Party.  The  columns  of  the  Liberator 
have,  most  probably,  led  him  into  it.  Being  set  right  on  this  point 
yourself,  you  will  of  course,  take  pleasure  in  setting  him  right.  He 
will  thank  you  for  doing  so  ;  for  when  he  comes  to  know,  that 
"  Third  Party  "  is  but  a  nickname,  and  the  invention  of  blackguards, 
he  will  shrink  from  the  vulgarity  and  meanness  of  repeating  it. 
Again,  were  you  a  reader  of  the  newspapers  of  the  Liberty  Party, 
you  would  not  feel  yourself  authorized  to  lake  it  for  granted,  that  to 
hold  an  office  under  the  constitution  is  to  be  guilty  of  swearing  to 
uphold  slavery.  On  the  contrary,  you  would  be  convinced,  that  nine- 
tenths  of  the  abolitionists  of  the  country — nine-tenths,  too,  of  the 
wisest  and  worthiest  of  them — believe,  that  an  oath  to  abide  by  the 
constitution  is  an  oath  to  labor  for  the  overthrow  of  slavery.  Were 
you  a  reader  of  the  newspapers  of  the  Liberty  Party,  you  would 
know,  that  this  position  of  these  nine-tenths  of  the  abolitionists  of 
the  country  is  fortified  by  arguments  of  William  Goodell  and  Ly- 
sander  Spooner,  which  there  has  been  no  attempt  to  answer,  and 
that,  too,  for  the  most  probable  reason,  that  they  are  unanswerable. 
I  am  not  sure,  that  you  have  ever  heard  of  these  gentlemen.  Theirs 
are  perhaps,  unmentioned  names  in  the  line  of  your  reading  and  as 
sociations.  Nevertheless  I  strongly  desire  that  you  may  read  theii 
arguments.  Your  reading  of  them  will,  I  hope,  moderate  the  super 
latively  arrogant  and  dogmatic  style  in  which  you,  in  common  with 
the  abolitionists  of  your  school,  talk  and  write  on  this  subject.  If 
this  or  aught  else,  shall  have  the  effect  to  relax  that  extreme,  turkey- 
cock  tension  of  pride,  with  which  you  and  your  fellows  strut  up  and 
down  the  arena  of  this  controversy,  the  friends  of  modesty  and  good 
manners  will  have  occasion  to  rejoice. 

I  have  not  taken  up  my  pen  to  write  another  argument  for  the 
constitution.  Two  or  three  years  ago,  I  presumed  to  write  one* 
and  the  way  in  which  it  was  treated,  is  a  caution  to  me  not  to  repeat 
the  presumption.  I  shall  not  soon  forget  the  fury  with  which  the 
Mr.  Wendell  Phillips,  whom  you  so  highly  praise  in  the  letter  before 
me,  pounced  upon  it.  Nothing  short  of  declaring  me  to  be  a  thief 
and  a  liar  could  relieve  his  swollen  spirit,  or  give  adequate  vent  to 
his  foaming  wrath.  He  would,  probably,  have  come  to  be  ashamed 
of  himself,  had  not  his  review  of  me  been  endorsed  by  Mr.  Garrison, 
and  also  by  one,  who  it  is  said,  is  even  greater  than  Mr.  Garrison — • 
"  the  power  behind  the  throne." 

I  do  not  doubt,  my  dear  sir,  that  you  and  your  associates  have 
sincerely  adopted  your  conclusions  respecting  the  constitution. 
That  you  should  be  thoroughly  convinced  by  your  own  arguments 


SLA  VER  Y.  203 

is  a  natural  and  almost  necessary  consequence  of  the  self-compla 
cency,  which  uniformly  characterizes  persons  who  regard  themselves 
as  ne  plus  ultra  reformers.  I  wish  you  could  find  it  in  your  hearts 
to  reciprocate  our  liberality,  in  acknowledging  your  sincerity,  and  to 
admit,  that  we,  who  differ  from  you,  are  also  sincere.  No  longer 
then  would  you  suppose  us,  as  you  do  in  your  present  letter,  to  be 
guilty  of  "Jesuitical  evasions,"  or  to  be  capable  of  being,  to  use  your 
own  capitals  "  PERJURED  LIARS."  No  longer  then  would  you 
and  the  gentlemen  of  your  school  speak  of  us  as  a  pack  of  office- 
seekers,  hypocntes,  and  scoundrels.  But  you  would  then  treat  us 
— your  equal  brethren,  as  honestly  and  ardently  desirous  as  your 
selves  to  advance  the  clear  cause  to  which  you  are  devoted — with 
decency  and  kindness,  instead  of  contempt  and  brutality.  I  honor 
you  and  your  associates,  as  true-hearted  friends  of  the  slave ;  and 
nor  man,  nor  devil,  shall  ever  extort  from  my  lips  or  pen  a  word  of 
injustice  against  any  of  you.  I  honor  you  also  for  the  sincerity  of 
your  beliefs,  that  they,  who  dissent  from  your  expositions  of  the  con 
stitution,  are  in  the  wrong.  But  I  am  deeply  grieved  at  your  super 
ciliousness  and  intolerance  toward  those,  whose  desire  to  know  and 
do  their  duty  is  no  less  strong  nor  pure  than  your  own.  Far  am  I 
from  intimating  that  the  blame  of  the  internal  dissensions  of  the 
Abolitionists  belongs  wholly  to  yourselves.  No  very  small  share  of 
it  should  be  appropriated  by  such  of  them  as  have  indulged  a  bad 
spirit,  in  speaking  uncandidly  and  unkindly  of  yourselves.  All  classes 
of  Abolitionists  have  need  to  humble  themselves  before  God  for  hav 
ing  retarded  the  cause  of  the  slave  by  these  guilty  dissensions. 

I  would  that  I  could  inspire  you  with  some  distrust  of  your  infal 
libility.  I  should,  thereby,  be  rendering  good  service  to  yourself 
and  to  the  cause  of  truth.  Will  you  bear  to  have  me  point  out  some 
of  the  blunders  in  the  letter  to  which  I  am  now  replying?  And, 
when  you  shall  have  seen  them,  will  you  suffer  your  wonder  to  abate, 
that  the  great  body  of  Abolitionists  do  not  more  promptly  and  im 
plicitly  bow  to  the  ipse  dixits  of  yourself  and  your  fellow  infallibles  ? 
Casting  myself  on  your  indulgence,  and  at  the  risk  of  ruffling  your 
self-complacency,  I  proceed  to  point  out  to  you  some  of  these 
blunders. 

Blunder  No.  i.  You  charge  me  with  holding,  that  the  clause  of 
the  constitution  relating  to  the  slave-trade,  provides  for  its  abolition. 
What  I  do  hold  to,  however,  is,  that  the  part  of  the  constitution 
which  entrusts  Congress  with  the  power  to  regulate  commerce,  pro 
vides  for  the  abolition  of  this  trade.  That  Congress  would  use  the 
power  to  abolish  this  trade,  was  deemed  certain  by  the  whole  con- 


2O4  LIFE   OF  GERRI7'  SMITH. 

vention  which  framed  the  constitution.  Hence  a  portion  of  its 
members  would  not  consent  to  grant  this  power,  unless  modified  by 
the  clause  concerning  the  slave-trade,  and  unless,  too,  this  clause 
were  made  irrepealable.  When  the  life-time  of  this  modification 
had  expired,  Congress,  doing  just  what  the  anti-slavery  spirit  of  the 
constitution  and  the  universal  expectation  of  the  nation  demanded, 
prohibited  our  participation  in  the  African  slave-trade.  I  readily 
admit,  that  the  clause  in  question  is,  considered  by  itself,  pro-slavery. 
But  it  is  to  be  viewed  as  a  part  of  the  anti-slavery  bargain  for  sup 
pressing  the  African  slave-trade — and  as  a  part,  without  which,  the 
anti-slavery  bargain  could  not  have  been  made.  Did  I  not  infer 
from  your  own  words,  that  you  cannot  possibly  bring  yourself  to 
condescend  to  read  the  "  writings  or  speeches  "  of  Liberty-party 
men,  I  would  ask  you  to  read  what  I  wrote  to  John  G.  Whittier 
and  Adin  Ballou  on  that  part  of  the  constitution  now  under  con 
sideration. 

Blunder  No.  2.  But  what  pro-slavery  act  can  that  part  of  the 
constitution  which  respects  the  African  slave-trade,  require  at  the 
hands  of  one  who  should  now  swear  to  support  the  constitution? 
None.  No  more  than  if  the  thing,  now  entirely  obsolete,  had  never 
been.  What  a  blunder  then  to  speak  of  this  part  of  the  constitution, 
as  an  obstacle  in  the  way  of  swearing  to  support  those  parts  of  it 
which  still  remain  operative  ! 

Blunder  No.  3.  In  your  letter  before  me,  as  well  as  in  your  ap 
proval  of  an  article  in  the  Liberator  of  3Oth  last  month,  you  take  the 
position,  that  the  pro-slavery  interpretations  of  the  constitution,  at 
the  hands  of  courts  and  lawmakers,  are  conclusive  that  the  instru 
ment  is  pro-slavery.  But  you  will  yourself  go  so  far  as  to  admit, 
that  all  slavery  under  the  national  flag,  and  in  the  District  of  Colum 
bia,  and  indeed  everywhere,  save  in  the  old  thirteen  States,  is  un 
constitutional.  Nevertheless  all  such  parts  of  unconstitutional 
slavery  have  repeatedly  been  approved  by  courts  and  law-makers. 
You  say,  that  the  constitution  is  what  its  expounders  interpret  it  to 
be ;  and  that,  inasmuch  as  they  interpret  it  to  be  pro-slavery,  you 
are  bound  to  reject  it.  But  the  dignified  and  authoritative  ex 
pounders  of  the  Bible  interpret  //  to  be  pro-slavery-.  Why,  then, 
according  to  your  own  rules,  should  you  not  reject  the  Bible,  also  ? 
Talleyrand,  you  know,  thought  a  blunder  worse  than  a  crime.  You 
and  I  do  not  agree  with  him.  But  we  certainly  cannot  fail  to  agree 
with  each  other,  that  your  blunder  No.  3,  is  a  very  bad  blunder. 

Blunder  No.  4.  You  declare,  that  because  the  constitution  is  as 
you  allege,  pro-slavery,  it  is  inconsistent  and  unfair  to  reject  a  slave- 


SLA  VER  Y.  205 

holder  from  holding  office  under  it.  Extend  the  application  if  you 
will,  that  you  may  see  its  absurdity.  The  constitution  of  my  State 
makes  a  dark  skin  a  disqualification  for  voting.  Hence,  in  choosing 
officers  under  it — even  revisers  of  the  constitution  itself — I  am  not 
at  liberty,  according  to  your  rule,  to  exclude  a  man  from  the  range 
of  my  selection,  on  the  ground  that  he  is  in  favor  of  such  disqualifi 
cation.  Nay,  more,  I  must  regard  his  agreement  with  the  constitu 
tion  on  this  point,  as  an  argument  in  favor  of  his  claim  to  my  vote. 
Again — to  conform  to  your  rule,  a  wicked  community  should,  because 
it  is  wicked,  choose  a  wicked  preacher — or  because  it  is  ignorant, 
choose  an  ignorant  schoolmaster.  Yours  is  a  rule  that  refuses  to 
yield  to  the  law  of  progress,  and  that  shuts  the  door  against  all  hu 
man  improvement.  You  would,  for  the  sake  of  their  consistency, 
have  an  individual — have  a  people — remain  as  wicked  as  they  are — 
and  vote  for  drunkards  and  slaveholders,  because  they  have  al 
ways  done  so.  The  provision  of  the  constitution  for  its  own  amend 
ment,  is  of  itself,  enough  to  silence  your  doctrine,  that  the  agreement 
of  a  man's  character  and  views  with  the  constitution,  is  necessarily 
an  argument  for,  and  can  never  be  an  argument  against,  his  holding 
office  under  it.  This  provision  opens  the  door  for  choosing  to  office 
under  the  constitution,  those  who  disagree  with  it.  This  provision 
implies,  that  in  the  progress  of  things,  a  man's  agreement  with  the 
constitution  may  be  a  conclusive  objection  to  clothing  him  with 
official  power  under  it. 

But  I  will  stop  my  enumeration  of  your  blunders,  and  put  you  a 
few  questions. 

1.  Do  you  not  believe,  that  it  was  settled  by  the  decision  in  the 
year  1772  of  the  highest  court  of  England,  that  there  was  not  any 
legal  slavery  in  our  American  Colonies  ? 

2.  Do  you  not.  believe,  that  there  was  no  legal  slavery  in  any  of 
the  States  of  this  nation,  at  the  time  the  constitution  was  adopted  ? 

3.  Do  you  not  believe,  that  the  constitution  created  no  slavery  ; 
and  that  it  is  not  to  be  held  as  even  recognizing  slavery,  provided 
there  was,  at  the  time  of  its  adoption,  no  legal  slavery  in  any  of  the 
States  ? 

4.  Do  you  not  believe,  that  had  the  American  people  adhered  to 
the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  constitution,  chattel  slavery  would  ere 
this,  have  ceased  to  exist  in  the  nation  ? 

You  will  of  course,  be  constrained  to  answer  all  these  questions 
in  the  affirmative.  And  I  wish  that,  when  you  shall  have  answered 
them,  you  would  also  answer  one  more— and  that  is  the  question 
whether,  since  you  are  hotly  eager  for  the  overthrow  of  all  civil  gov- 


2O6  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

ernment  (they  are  not  governments  whose  laws,  if  laws  they  may  be 
called,  are  without  the  sanctions  of  force)  you  ought  not  to  guard 
yourself  most  carefully  from  seeking  unjust  occasions  against  them, 
and  from  satisfying  your  hatred  of  them,  at  the  expense  of  candor 
and  truth  ?  An  atheist  at  heart  is  not  unfrequently  known  to  publish 
his  grief  over  what  he  (afflicted  soul !)  is  pained  to  be  obliged  to  ad 
mit  are  blemishes  upon  the  Bible.  His  words  are,  as  if  this  blessed 
book  were  inexpressibly  dear  to  him.  Nevertheless,  his  inward  and 
deep  desire  is,  that  with  or  without  the  blemishes  he  imputes  to  it, 
the  Bible  may  perish.  Our  Non-resistants  throw  themselves  into 
an  agony  before  the  public  eye,  on  account  of  the  pro-slavery  which 
they  allege  taints  the  constitution.  But,  aside  and  in  their  confiden 
tial  circles,  their  language  is  :  "  Be  the  constitution  pro-slavery  or 
anti-slavery,  let  it  perish."  Were  the  constitution  unexceptionable 
to  you  on  the  score  of  slavery,  you  would,  being  a  Non-resistant, 
still  hate  it  with  unappeasable  hatred.  Now  I  put  it  to  you,  my  dear 
sir,  whether  the  Non-resistants,  when  they  ask  us  to  listen  to  their 
disinterested  arguments  against  the  anti-slavery  character  of  the 
constitution,  do  not  show  themselves  to  be  somewhat  brazen-faced  ! 
I  say  naught  against  your  Non-resistance.  That  I  am  not  a  Non- 
resistant  myself — that  I  still  linger  around  the  bloody  and  life-taking 
doctrines  in  which  I  was  educated — is  perhaps,  only  because  I  have 
less  humanity  and  piety  than  yourself.  Often  have  I  tried  to  throw 
off  this  part  of  my  education  ;  and  that  the  Bible  would  not  let  me, 
was,  perhaps,  only  my  foolish  and  wicked  fancy. 

You  ask  me  to  join  you  in  abandoning  the  constitution.  My 
whole  heart — my  whole  sense  of  duty  to  God  and  man — forbids  my 
doing  so.  In  my  own  judgment  of  the  case,  I  could  not  do  so  with 
out  being  guilty  of  the  most  cowardly  and  cruel  treachery  toward  my 
enslaved  countrymen.  The  constitution  has  put  weapons  into  the 
hands  of  the  American  people  entirely  sufficient  for  slaying  the  mon 
ster  within  whose  bloody  and  crushing  grasp  are  the  three  millions 
of  American  slaves.  I  have  not  failed  to  calculate  the  toil  and  self- 
denial  and  peril  of  using  those  weapons  manfully  and  bravely — and 
yet  for  one,  I  have  determined,  God  helping  me,  thus  to  use  them — 
and  not,  self-indulgently  and  basely,  to  cast  them  away.  If  the 
people  of  the  north  should  refuse  to  avail  themselves  of  their  con 
stitutional  power  to  effectuate  the  overthrow  of  American  slavery,  on 
them  must  rest  the  guilty  responsibility,  and  not  in  that  power — for 
it  is  ample.  To  give  up  the  constitution  is  to  give  up  the  slave.  His 
hope  of  a  peaceful  deliverance  is,  under  God,  in  the  application  of 
the  anti-slavery  principles  of  the  constitution. 


SLAVERY.  207 

No — I  cannot  join  you  in  abandoning  the  constitution  and  over 
throwing  the  government.  I  cannot  join  you,  notwithstanding  you 
tell  me  that  to  do  so  is  "  the  only  political  action  in  which  a  man 
of  honor  and  self-respect  can  engage  in  this  country."  Your  telling 
me  so  is  but  another  proof  of  your  intolerance  and  insolence — but 
another  proof  of  the  unhappy  change  wrought  in  your  temper  and 
manners  by  the  associations  and  pursuits  of  your  latter  years.  Your 
telling  me  so  carries  no  conviction  to  my  mind  of  the  truth  of  what 
you  tell  me.  It  is  a  mere  assertion  ; — and  has  surely,  none  the  more 
likeness  to  an  argument  by  reason  of  the  exceedingly  offensive  terms 
in  which  it  is  couched. 

Since  I  began  this  letter,  I  have  received  one  from  a  couple  of 
colored  men  of  the  city  of  Alexandria.  Never  did  I  read  a  more 
eloquent,  or  heart-melting  letter.  You  remember  that  Congress,  at 
its  last  session,  left  it  to  the  vote  of  the  whites  in  that  part  of  the 
District  of  Columbia  south  of  the  Potomac,  whether  that  part  of  the 
District  should  be  set  back  to  Virginia,  and  colored  people  be  sub 
jected  to  the  murderous  and  diabolical  laws  which  that  State  has 
enacted  against  colored  people,  the  free  as  well  as  the  bond.  The 
letter  which  I  have  received,  describes  the  feelings  of  our  poor 
colored  brethren,  as  they  saw  themselves  passing  from  under  the 
laws  of  the  nation  into  the  bloody  grasp  of  the  laws  of  a  slave  State. 
I  will  give  you  an  extract : 

"  I  know  that,  could  you  but  see  the  poor  colored  people  of  this 
city,  who  are  the  poorest  of  God's  poor,  your  benevolent  heart  would 
melt  at  such  an  exhibition.  Fancy,  but  for  a  moment,  you  could 
have  seen  them  on  the  day  of  election,  when  the  act  of  Congress, 
retroceding  them  to  Virginia,  should  be  rejected  or  confirmed. 
Whilst  the  citizens  of  this  city  and  county  were  voting,  God's  hum 
ble  poor  were  standing  in  rows,  on  either  side  of  the  Court  House, 
and,  as  the  votes  were  announced  every  quarter  of  an  hour,  the 
suppressed  wailings  and  lamentations  of  the  people  of  color  were 
constantly  ascending  to  God  for  help  and  succor,  in  this  the  hour  of 
their  need.  And  whilst  their  cries  and  lamentations  were  going  up 
to  the  Lord  of  Sabaoth,  the  curses  and  shouts  of  the  people,  and  the 
sounds  of  the  wide-mouthed  artillery,  which  made  both  the  heavens 
and  the  earth  shake,  admonished  us  that  on  the  side  of  the  op 
pressor  there  was  great  power.  Oh  sir,  there  never  was  such  a 
time  here  before  !  We  have  been  permitted  heretofore  to  meet  to 
gether  in  God's  sanctuary,  which  we  have  erected  for  the  purpose 
of  religious  worship,  but  whether  we  shall  have  this  privilege  when 
the  Virginia  laws  are  extended  over  us,  we  know  not.  We  expect 


2O8  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH, 

that  our  schools  will  all  be  broken  up,  and  our  privileges,  which  we 
have  enjoyed  for  so  many  years,  will  all  be  taken  away.  The  laws 
of  Virginia  can  hardly  be  borne  by  those  colored  people  that  have 
been  brought  up  in  a  state  of  ignorance  and  the  deepest  subjection  : 
but  oh  sir  how  is  it  with  us,  who  have  enjoyed  comparative  liberty  ? 
We  trust  that  we  have  the  sympathies  of  the  good  and  the  virtuous. 
We  know  that  we  have  yours  and  your  associates  in  benevolence 
and  love.  Dear  friend,  can  you  and  yours  extend  to  our  poor  a 
helping  hand,  in  this  the  time  of  our  need  ?  Remember,  as  soon  as 
the  legislature  of  Virginia  meets,  which  is  in  December,  they  will 
extend  their  laws  over  us :  and  in  the  spring  forty  or  fifty  colored 
families  would  be  glad  to  leave  for  some  free  State,  where  they  can 
educate  their  children,  and  worship  God  without  molestation.  But, 
dear  sir,  whither  shall  we  go  ?  Say,  Christian  brother,  and  witness 
heaven  and  earth,  whither  shall  we  go  ?  Do  we  hear  a  voice  from 
you  saying :  '  Come  here  ?  '  Or,  are  we  mistaken  ?  Say,  brother, 
say,  are  we  not  greater  objects  of  pity  than  our  more  highly  favored 
and  fortunate  brethren  of  the  North — (Heaven  bless  and  preserve 
them  !  ") 

If  such,  my  friend,  is  the  woe,  when  but  a  few  hundred  colored 
persons  (and  part  of  them  free)  find  themselves  deserted  by  the 
National  Power,  what  will  it  not  be,  when,  in  the  bosoms  of  three 
millions  of  slaves,  all  hope  of  the  interposition  of  that  Power  shall 
die  ?  That  Power  I  would  labor  to  turn  into  the  channel  of  deliver 
ance  to  these  millions.  That  Power  you  woukl  destroy.  Alas, 
were  it  this  day  destroyed,  what  a  long,  black  night  would  settle 
down  upon  those  millions !  Vengeance  might,  indeed,  succeed  to 
despair;  and  its  superhuman  arm  deliver  the  enslaved.  But,  such 
a  deliverance  would  be  through  blood,  reaching,  in  Apocalyptic 
language,  "  even  to  the  horses'  bridles  :"  and  to  such  a  deliverance 
neither  you  nor  I  would  knowingly  contribute. 

But  I  am  extending  my  letter  to  double  the  length  I  intended 
to  give  it — and  must  stop. 

With  great  regard,  your  friend, 

GERRIT  SMITH. 

The  period  between  1850  and  1860  was  crowded  with 
excitement.  In  those  years  the  slave  power  made  its 
desperate  effort  to  get  control  of  the  government,  and 
in  the  attempt  exasperated  to  fury  the  people  of  the 
north.  Anti-slavery  men  of  every  complexion  were  put 


SLA  VER  Y.  2O9 

to  their  mettle.  The  "  agitators  "  went  up  and  down  ; 
the  preachers  thundered  ;  the  politicians  worked  their 
wires  in  frenzy  ;  vigilance  committees  were  unsleeping  ; 
the  "  underground  railroad  "  laid  tracks  on  the  surface 
and  opened  new  connections.  A  man  like  Gerrit  Smith 
could  not  restrain  himself.  In  January,  1850,  Mason's 
bill  to  provide  for  the  more  faithful  execution  of  the 
clause  in  the  Constitution  requiring  the  return  of  fugitive 
slaves  was  introduced.  It  was  referred  to  the  Judiciary 
committee ;  reported  with  amendments ;  laid  on  the 
table  ;  brought  up  on  the  iQth  of  August ;  fiercely  deba 
ted,  and  finally  carried  on  the  i6th  of  September.  The 
intervening  months  were  spent  by  the  negroes  and  their 
friends  in  preparing  for  the  worst.  The  worst  came 
soon.  William  L.  Chaplin,  general  agent  of  the  New 
York  Anti-Slavery  Society,  a  publisher  of  tracts,  books 
and  other  "  revolutionary''  documents,  editor  of  the  Al 
bany  Patriot,  a  man  of  remarkable  intelligence,  ability, 
and  nobleness  of  character,  personally  intimate  with 
William  Goodell,  Beriah  Green  and  their  fellow- workers, 
being  in  Washington,  whither  he  had  gone  against  Mr. 
Smith's  advice,  was  arrested  for  aiding  the  escape  of  two 
young  men,  slaves  of  Robert  Toombs  and  Alex.  H. 
Stephens,  thrown  into  prison,  and  after  five  months  of 
incarceration,  released  on  giving  bail  for  twenty-five 
thousand  dollars.  As  the  offence  was  punishable  with 
imprisonment,  years,  if  not  life  long,  and  as  conviction  was 
certain,  his  friends  decided  that  the  bail  should  be  for 
feited.  There  were  lawyers'  fees  and  incidental  expenses 
amounting  to  several  thousands  of  dollars.  To  indemnify 
the  bail  in  Maryland  cost  nineteen  thousand  dollars ; 
six  thousand  were  required  for  the  bail  in  Washington. 


210  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

Even  Gerrit. Smith,  prodigal  as  he  was,  winced  under  the 
imposition.  "  I  am  robbed  of  these  twelve  thousand  dol 
lars  ;  I  have  been  robbed  of  a  great  deal  from  time  to  time, 
in  the  sums  which  I  have  felt  myself  morally  compelled 
to  pay  in  the  purchase  of  the  liberty  of  slaves.  I  greatly 
needed  all  this  money  to  expend  in  other  directions." 

His  state  of  mind  on  the  passage  of  the  Fugitive 
Slave  Bill  is  indicated  in  the  resolutions  which  he  of 
fered  at  different  meetings  called  at  this  period.  The 
law  is  called  "  the  foulest  of  all  blots  upon  civilization  ; 
the  greatest  of  all  outrages  upon  religion  and  humanity; 
the  heaviest  of  all  reproaches  upon  republicanism." — It 
is  a  "  diabolical  law,"  which  receives  "  the  full  measure 
of  our  contempt  and  hate  and  execration,  and  which 
we  pledge  ourselves  to  resist  actively  as  well  as  passively, 
and  by  all  such  means  as  shall,  in  our  esteem,  promise 
the  most  effectual  resistance."  "  If  Christianity  teaches 
anything,  it  teaches  that  the  crime  of  dragging  Hamlet, 
and  Long,  and  Boulding  and  Harrison  from  this  State 
into  slavery  was  the  crime  of  dragging  Jesus  Christ  into 
slavery.  They  who  dragged  the  poor  naked  and  bleed 
ing  Jerry  through  the  streets  of  Syracuse  for  the  pur 
pose  of  replunging  him  into  the  horrors  of  slavery,  would 
have  dragged  Jesus  Christ  to  the  Cross."  "  Were  we  not 
a  nation  of  atheists  we  would  as  soon  think  of  enacting 
a  law  to  enslave  God  Himself,  as  of  enacting  a  law  to 
enslave  the  beings  whom  He  has  made  in  His  image ;  as 
soon  think  of  having  kidnappers  chase  Him  through  His 
universe,  as  of  having  them  chase  the  beings  whose 
rights  He  holds  as  sacred  as  His  own."  "  I  glory  in 
law.  With  the  great  Apostle  I  count  it  '  holy  and  just 
and  good.'  With  the  Psalmist  I  can  say,  '  it  is  my  de- 


SLAVERY.  211 

light.*  When  the  immortal  Hooker  so  beautifully  and 
sublimely  says  that  '  law  has  her  seat  in  the  bosom  of 
God,  and  her  voice  is  the  harmony  of  the  world,'  he 
thrills  my  whole  soul.  I  will  obey  law.  But  I  will  not 
obey  the  dictates  of  devilism,  which  impudently  install 
themselves  in  the  place  of  law."  "  When  poor  Jerry  the 
fugitive  slave  of  Syracuse,  whispered  in  my  ear :  <  I  will 
never  go  back  into  slavery — I  will  have  every  bone  in 
my  body  broken  first,'  I  did  not  infer  that  he  intended 
violence  to  any.  He  may  have  meant  nothing  more 
than  that  he  would  let  his  oppressors  kill  him  sooner 
than  he  would  consent  to  be  reduced  to  a  condition 
which  he  dreaded  more  than  death.  It  is  only  the  prin 
ciple  of  resistance — without  saying  whether  it  should  be 
active  or  passive — whether  with  the  will  merely,  or  with 
weapons  also — which  I  have  recommended."  "  It  is  our 
duty  to  peril  life,  liberty  and  property  in  behalf  of  the 
fugitive  slave  to  as  great  an  extent  as  we  would  peril 
them  in  behalf  of  ourselves."  "  It  may  not  be  the 
slave's  duty  to  lose  life  or  take  life  in  order  to  exempt 
himself  from  slavery.  But,  if  he  is  authorized  to  go  to 
these  extremities,  it  is  absurd  to  say  that  I  sin,  if  I  carry 
my  help  to  him  to  the  same  extremities."  Such  an 
nouncements  as  these  show  how  he  worked. 

PREACHING   POLITICS. 

The  citizens  of  the  County  of  Madison  are  invited  to  attend  a 
meeting  in  Peterboro,  Sunday,  Nov.  3,  1850. 

It  is  expected  that  GERRIT  SMITH  will  on  that  occasion,  present 
the  Bible  view  of  Civil  Government,  and  examine  the  late  diabolical 
law  for  reducing  the  poor  to  slavery. 

The  exercises  are  to  begin  at  10  A.  M.f  and,  if  the  weather  be 
pleasant,  are  to  be  in  the  open  air.  Good  singers  are  especially 
invited  to  attend. 

October  26,  1850. 


212  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 


FIVE    THOUSAND   MEN   AND   WOMEN   WANTED. 

To  attend  the  Meetings  in 
CANASTOTA,  Wednesday,  Oct.  23d,  10  A.  M. 
CAZENOVIA,  Friday,  Oct.  25th,  10  A.  M. 
HAMILTON,  Wednesday,  Oct.  3oth,  10  A.  M. 
PETERBORO,  Friday.  Nov.  ist,  10  A.  M. 

None  but  real  men  and  women  are  wanted.  The  sham  men 
and  women  who  can  stick  to  the  Whig  and  Democratic  parties  are 
not  wanted.  These  parties  made  the  accursed  law  under  which 
oppressors  and  kidnappers  are  now  chasing  down  the  poor  among 
us,  to  make  slaves  of  them.  Hence  there  is  no  hope  of  good  from 
persons  who  can  stick  to  these  Devil-prompted  parties. 

We  want  such  men  and  women  to  attend  these  meetings  as 
would  rather  suffer  imprisonment  and  death  than  tolerate  the  execu 
tion  of  this  man-stealing  law.  We  want  such  as  would  be  glad  to 
see  William  L.  Chaplin,  now  lying  in  a  Maryland  prison  on  account 
of  his  merciful  feelings  to  the  enslaved,  made  Governor  of  the  State 
of  New  York.  We  want,  in  a  word,  such  noble  men  and  women  as 
used  to  gather  under  the  banners  of  the  good  old  Liberty  Party. 

Let  us  then,  get  together  again,  to  speak  the  truth,  and  to  sing 
the  truth.  Those  were  good  times  when  we  came  together  to  hear 
warm-hearted  speeches  for  the  slave,  and  to  hear  Otis  Simmons' 
daughters,  and  Rhoda  Klinck,  and  Miss  Cook,  etc.,  etc.,  sing 

"  Come  join  the  Abolitionists" 
"  What  mean  ye  that  ye  bruise  and  bind  ?  " 
"The  Yankee  Girl." 
"  There's  a  good  time  coming,  boys." 
October  10,  1850. 

In  the  midst  of  this  excitement,  while  the  North 
was  ringing  with  cries  of  terror  and  shouts  of  defiance, 
and  the  anti-slavery  feeling  was  glowing  at  fever-heat, 
Mr.  Smith  was  elected  to  Congress  by  a  plurality  of 
votes; — the  Whig  candidate  receiving  5,620;  the  Dem 
ocratic  6,206;  the  "  Independent  "  8,049.  He  was  sit 
ting  at  table,  it  is  said,  when  the  news  was  brought. 
His  were  not  the  only  hands  that  were  raised  in  aston- 


SLAVERY.  213 

ishment — for  the  spectacle  had  not  been  seen  before. 
Here  was  a  simple-hearted  bible-Christian  going  where 
Christianity  was  a  worldly  institution,  and  the  bible  a 
sealed  book;  an  independent  going  where  the  party 
politician  alone  was  regarded  ;  a  believer  in  the  Laws 
of  Nature  going  where  such  things  were  not  so  much  as 
heard  of;  a  servant  and  friend  of  his  kind  going  to  the 
one  place  in  America  where  everybody  was  supposed  to 
have  his  price,  and  the  arts  of  deception,  invented  in 
contempt  and  practiced  with  heartless  cruelty,  were 
prized  above  all  others.  He  never  drank,  and  he  was  to 
be  the  associate  of  men  who  tippled  at  all  hours  of  day 
and  night.  He  never  smoked  or  chewed  tobacco,  and 
he  was  about  to  live  among  people  who  thought  the  air 
unfit  to  breathe  until  it  was  thick  with  the  fumes  of 
cigars,  and  in  whose  opinion  the  indispensable  article  of 
furniture  was  the  spittoon.  He  went  to  bed  with  the 
chickens  and  rose  with  the  birds,  and  he  was  to  pass 
months  in  a  city  where  day  began  in  the  afternoon,  and 
reached  the  meridian  at  midnight.  The  man  of  prayer 
is  sent  down  to  the  metropolis  of  profanity ;  the  free 
soul  to  the  stronghold  of  slavery ;  the  child  of  the  Spirit 
to  the  arena  of  gladiators.  The  people  wondered  ;  edi 
tors  smiled  good-naturedly  or  sarcastically ;  the  politi 
cians  derided ;  the  high-minded  rejoiced.  The  "  New 
York  Times  "  scouted  the  nomination  : 

"  It  seems  to  us  mere  wantonness — idle  nonsense — to  send  such 
a  man  to  Congress,  to  take  part  in  practical  legislation  upon  prac 
tical  subjects.  Those  who  elected  him  doubtless  did  it  quite  as 
much  on  account  of  his  character  or  from  a  desire  to  see  what  could 
be  done  as  with  an  expectation  that  he  would  prove  influential  or 
useful,  in  his  new  position. 


214  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

Mr.  Greeley,  in  the  "  Tribune,"  wrote : 

"  We  are  heartily  glad  that  Gerrit  Smith  is  going  to  Washington. 
He  is  an  honest,  brave,  kind-hearted  Christian  philanthropist,  whose 
religion  is  not  put  aside  with  his  Sunday  cloak,  but  lasts  him  clear 
through  the  week.  We  think  him  very  wrong  in  some  of  his  notions 
of  political  economy,  and  quite  mistaken  in  his  ideas  that  the  con 
stitution  is  inimical  to  slavery,  and  that  injustice  cannot  be  legalized  : 
but  we  heartily  wish  more  such  great,  pure,  loving  souls  could  find 
their  way  into  Congress.  He  will  find  his  seat  anything  but  com 
fortable,  but  his  presence  there  will  do  good,  and  the  country  will 
know  him  better  and  esteem  him  more  highly  than  it  has  yet  done." 

His  friend,  William  Jay,  hailed  his  election  in  a  tri 
umphant  strain : 

Bedford,  November  9,  1853. 

My  Dear  Sir — Rarely  have  1  been  so  delightfully  astonished  as 
by  the  intelligence  of  your  election.  What  a  rebuke  of  the  vile 
pledge  given  by  the  Baltimore  convention  to  resist  all  anti-slavery 
discussions  in  Congress  or  out  of  it,  wherever,  whenever,  however,  and 
under  whatever  shape  or  color  it  may  be  attempted  !  What  a  scorn 
is  it  on  the  atrocious  effort  of  Fillmore  and  his  Cabinet  to  convict 
of  the  capital  crime  of  levying  war  against  the  United  States,  a 
peaceful,  conscientious  man,  merely  because  he  refused  to  aid  in  the 
villainy  of  catching  slaves,  thatjtfw,  an  undoubted  traitor  according 
to  Webster's  exposition  of  the  constitution,  should  be  sent,  not  to 
the  gallows,  but  to  Congress  ! 

How  must  our  Cotton  Parsons  mourn  over  the  irreligion  of  Madi 
son  and  Oswego,  represented  in  the  councils  of  the  nation  by  a  man 
who  openly  avows  a  higher  law  than  the  constitution,  and  who 
preaches  that  obedience  to  an  accursed  Act  of  Congress  is  rebellion 
against  God  ! 

You  and  I,  my  dear  sir,  very  honestly  differ  in  opinion  on  some 
points,  but  we  cordially  agree  as  to  the  diabolism  of  American  slavery 
and  the  fugitive  slave  act ;  and  most  sincerely  do  I  rejoice  in  your 
election. 

May  the  blessings  of  the  Almighty  rest  upon  you,  and  may  He 
give  you  wisdom  from  on  high,  to  direct  you  in  the  discharge  of  your 
new  duties  ;  and  may  he  deliver  you  from  that  fear  of  man  which  is 
at  once  the  snare  and  the  curse  of  almost  all  our  public  men. 

Your  friend, 

WILLIAM  JAY. 


SLAVERY.  215 

William  H.  Seward  wrote  cordially  thus  : 

Auburn,  Nov.  10,  1852. 

My  Dear  Sir,  —  I  thank  you  for  your  circular.  I  cannot  con 
gratulate  you  on  your  election  over  the  candidate  of  my  own  party. 
But  I  may  say  that  it  is  full  of  instruction  which  I  think  the  two  par 
ties  needed,  and  that  I  look  to  its  effect  with  confidence,  as  I  do  to 
your  action  in  the  house  as  full  of  hope  and  promise  for  the  cause 
of  Liberty  and  Humanity. 

Faithfully  your  friend, 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 

The  closing  prayer  in  Mr.  Jay's  letter  was  answered  ; 
that  all  were  forced  to  admit,  whatever  may  be  thought 
of  the  one  that  preceded  it.  Whether  or  no  there  was 
wisdom,  there  surely  was  no  fear  of  man.  Mr.  Smith 
went  to  Washington  on  no  false  pretences,  as  is  testified 
by  the  address  he  issued. 

To  the  voters  of  the  Counties  of  Oswego  and  Madison. — You 
nominated  me  for  a  seat  in  Congress,  notwithstanding  I  besought 
you  not  to  do  so.  In  vain  was  my  resistance  to  your  persevering 
and  unrelenting  purpose. 

I  had  reached  old  age.  I  had  never  held  office.  Nothing  was 
more  foreign  to  my  expectations,  and  nothing  was  more  foreign  to 
my  wishes,  than  the  holding  of  office.  My  multiplied  and  extensive 
affairs  gave  me  full  employment.  My  habits,  all  formed  in  private 
life,  all  shrank  from  public  life.  My  plans  of  usefulness  and  happi 
ness  could  be  carried  out  only  in  the  seclusion  in  which  my  years 
had  been  spent. 

My  nomination,  as  I  supposed  it  would,  has  resulted  in  my  elec 
tion, — and  that  too,  by  a  very  large  majority.  And  now,  I  wish  that 
I  could  resign  the  office  which  your  partiality  has  accorded  to  me. 
But  I  must  not — I  cannot.  To  resign  it  would  be  a  most  ungrate 
ful  and  offensive  requital  of  the  rare  generosity,  which  broke  through 
your  strong  attachments  of  party,  and  bestowed  your  votes  on  one 
the  peculiarities  of  whose  political  creed  leave  him  without  a  party. 
Very  rare,  indeed,  is  the  generosity,  which  was  not  to  be  repelled  by 
a  political  creed,  among  the  peculiarities  of  which  are  : 

I.    That  it  acknowledges  no  law  and  knows  no  law  for  slavery  ; 


2l6  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

that  not  only  is  slavery  not  in  the  federal  constitution,  but  that,  by 
no  possibility  could  it  be  brought  either  into  the  federal  or  into  a 
State  constitution. 

2.  That  the  right  to  the  soil  is  as  natural,  absolute  and  equal 
as  the  right  to  the  light  and  air. 

3.  That  political  rights  are  not  conventional  but  natural, — in 
hering  in  all  persons,  the  black  as  well  as  the  white,  the  female  as 
•well  as  the  male. 

4.  That  the  doctrine  of  free  trade  is  the  necessary  outgrowth  of 
the  doctrine  of  the  human  brotherhood  ;  and  that  to  impose  restric 
tions  on  commerce  is  to  build  up  unnatural  and  sinful  barriers 
across  that  brotherhood. 

5.  That  national  wars  are  as  brutal,  barbarous  and  unnecessary 
as  are  the  violence  and  bloodshed  to  which  misguided  and  frenzied 
individuals  are  prompted ;  and  that  our  country  should,  by  her  own 
Heaven-trusting  and  beautiful  example,  hasten  the  day  when  the 
nations  of  the  earth  ' '  shall  beat  their  swords  into  ploughshares  and 
their  spears  into  pruning  hooks  ;  nation  shall  not  lift  up  sword 
against  nation,  neither  shall  they  learn  war  any  more." 

6.  That  the  province  of  government  is  but  to  protect — to  protect 
Persons  and  property  ;  and  that  the  building  of  railroads  and  canals 
and  the  care  of  schools  and  churches  fall  entirely  outside  of  its  lim 
its,  and  exclusively  within  the  range  of  "  the  voluntary  principle." 
Narrow  however  as  are  those  limits,  every  duty  within  them  is  to  be 
promptly,  faithfully,  fully  performed: — as  well,  for  instance,  the 
duty  on  the  part  of  the  federal  government  to  put  an  end  to  the 
dram-shop  manufacture  of  paupers   and  madmen   in  the  city  of 

\Vashington,  as  the  duty  on  the  part  of  the  State  government  to  put 
an  end  to  it  in  the  State. 

7.  That  as  far  as  practicable,  every  officer,  from  the  highest  to 
the  lowest,  including  especially  the  President  and  Postmaster,  should 
be  elected  directly  by  the  people. 

I  need  not  extend  any  further  the  enumerations  of  the  features 
of  my  peculiar  political  creed  ;  and  I  need  not  enlarge  upon  the  rea 
son  which  I  gave  why  I  must  not  and  cannot  resign  the  office  which 
you  have  conferred  upon  me.  I  will  only  add  that  I  accept  it  ;  that 
my  whole  heart  is  moved  to  gratitude  by  your  bestowment  of  it ; 
and  that,  God  helping  me,  I  will  so  discharge  its  duties  as  neither  to 
dishonor  myself  nor  you. 

GERRIT  SMITH. 
Peterboro,  November  5,  1852. 


SLAVERY.  217 

What  the  man  wrote  he  meant.  These  were  con 
victions  not  opinions  with  him  ;  his  daily  life  was  founded 
upon  them  ;  he  was,  in  fact,  their  incarnation.  To  betray 
or  to  compromise  or  to  qualify  them  was  morally  impos 
sible.  At  this  time  he  was  out  of  health.  For  six  or 
seven  weeks  his  head  had  been  "  filled  with  horrors  ;" 
now  "  swimming,"  now  "  unbalanced  and  toppling,  now 
bursting  with  fullness,  and  now  as  heavy  as  lead."  The 
journey  to  Washington  was  made  by  slow  stages.  He 
reached  the  city  on  the  1st  of  December;  the  session 
began  on  the  5th,  but  it  was  the  I2th  before  he  was  in 
condition  to  take  his  seat.  Yet,  in  this  state,  so  ailing 
and  distressed,  he  had,  before  leaving  Peterboro,  made 
ninety-two  visits  on  friends  and  neighbors,  and  arranged 
his  affairs  as  if  he  never  expected  to  return. 

The  necessities  of  his  own  and  his  wife's  health,  aside 
from  his  habitual  demand  for  space,  made  it  wise  for 
him  to  hire  a  house  and  to  keep  up  an  establishment. 
The  hospitality  of  his  nature,  which  rendered  it  a  neces 
sity  with  him  to  keep  open  doors,  filled  his  mansion 
with  guests ;  his  friendliness  and  courtesy  and  unaffected 
humanity  which  knew  no  distinction  of  persons,  drew 
all  kinds  to  him  ;  his  wonderful  resources  of  conversa 
tion,  his  invariable  pleasantry,  his  sincere  respect  for 
other  men's  opinions,  and  his  utter  freedom  from  dislike 
to  people  of  views  entirely  opposed  to  his  own,  his  uni 
form  dignity,  urbanity  and  sweetness,  made  his  frequent 
entertainments  peculiarly  attractive.  The  hospitalities 
of  Peterboro  were  revived  in  Washington.  He  gave  two 
dinners  each  week,  and  invited  every  member  of  the 
House.  At  his  table  men  of  all  parties  and  all  condi 
tions  met  and  sat  down  together.  The  southerners,  in 
10 


2l8  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

especial,  were  fascinated  by  the  open-handed,  wide- 
hearted  welcome  the  man  extended.  Aristocratic 
though  they  were,  they  enjoyed  the  atmosphere  of  this 
genuine  Democrat  whose  humanity  embraced  all  ex 
tremes  with  an  equal  ease  ;  slaveholders  and  slave  pro 
pagandists  though  they  were,  they  felt  no  rancor  to 
wards  the  man  whose  spirit  was  animated  by  a  love  so 
entire.  His  pleasant  association  with  slaveholders  ex 
posed  him  to  suspicion  and  criticism,  as  similar  associa 
tions  with  Pharisees  and  women  who  were  "  sinners " 
exposed  one  who  was  greater  than  he ;  in  these  cases 
the  fault-finder  fails  to  discern  the  nobleness  which 
exalts  the  human  nature  above  the  conventional  classifi 
cations  of  State  and  Church.  His  father  having  been  a 
slaveholder  until  he  had  reached  manhood,  and  formed 
his  habits  of  social  intercourse — his  wife  having  come 
from  a  slaveholding  community — several  of  his  friends 
and  relatives  being  slaveholders — he  could  appreci 
ate  the  personal  and  social  qualities  of  men  whose 
ideas  he  detested,  whose  policy  he  opposed  with  all  his 
might.  But  to  their  opinions  and  habits  he  made  no 
concession.  There  was  no  wine  on  his  table  ;  he  offered 
no  cigars;  he  countenanced  no  rudeness  or  indelicacy. 
His  guests  took  him  as  he  was,  and  were  glad  to,  for  his 
originality  was  his  charm.  They  could  not  fear  him, 
and  they  could  not  suspect  him  ;  for  his  complete  sepa 
ration  from  party  organizations  made  him  incapable  of 
political  harm,  and  his  perfect  frankness  disarmed  mis 
trust.  They  dreaded  him  about  as  much  as  they 
dreaded  the  abstractions  of  the  New  Testament.  He, 
on  his  part,  was  guileless  as  a  saint.  There  is  not  the 
least  reason  to  believe  that  he  courted  popularity  or 


SLAVERY.  219 

sought  influence,  or  did  anything  but  act  out  his  nature. 
The  weakest  as  well  as  wickedest  accusation  that  was 
made  against  him  was  that  of  trying  to  outwit  politicians 
by  giving  them  cold  water  dinners!  Even  he  was  not 
simple  enough  to  think  that  the  reward  promised  to  the 
proverbial  cup  offered  in  the  name  of  discipleship,  cov 
ered  cases  of  that  nature.  The  weakness  of  the  insinua 
tion  that  his  head  was  turned  by  popularity  in  Washing 
ton  and  his  simplicity  of  nature  spoiled,  is  exposed  by 
a  single  incident  that  occurred  there.  There  was  dis 
cord  in  the  kitchen,  and  a  dispute  on  the  question  of 
milking  the  cow.  He  settled  it,  not  by  dismissing  the 
servants,  but  by  going  into  the  yard  and  milking  the 
cow  himself.  There  was  plenty  of  fresh  milk  after  that. 

Had  he  been  sycophantic  he  would  have  disguised 
somewhat  his  opinions  in  the  speeches  he  made  before 
Congress.  Or,  perhaps  his  outspokenness  there  covered 
the  same  deep  design  that  lurked  at  the  bottom  of  the 
goblet!  The  speeches  were  frank  enough  to  justify  sus 
picions  of  only  the  deepest  wile.  The  longest  plummet 
line  would  come  short  of  the  bottom  of  such  deceit. 
They  must  be  astute  critics  who  can  detect  the  diplo 
matic  intent  in  this  little  sentence,  which  occurs  in  his 
maiden  speech  on  the  reference  of  the  President's  Mes 
sage  :  "  What  a  disgusting  spectacle  does  the  adminis 
tration  present,  in  its  deliberate  corruption  of  the  bible, 
for  the  guilty  purpose  of  sparing  so  abominable  and  vile 
a  thing  as  slavery  !  " 

This  first  speech  was  made  on  December  20, 1853,  eight 
days  only  after  he  took  his  seat.  The  speech  on  War, 
called  out  by  the  bill  making  appropriation  for  the  sup 
port  of  the  Military  Academy  for  the  year  ending  June 


22O  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

30,  1855,  was  delivered  January  18,  1854;  the  speech  on 
the  Homestead  Bill  followed,  February  21 ;  the  speech 
on  government  aid  in  constructing  a  railroad  through 
the  Territory  of  Minnesota  came  next,  March  7  ;  the 
speech  on  the  Nebraska  Bill  was  made,  April  6;  the 
speech  on  the  Pacific  Railroad  scheme,  May  30,  im 
proved  the  opportunity  for  declaring  further  his  views 
on  the  limits  of  government ;  the  speech  for  the  Aboli 
tion  of  the  Postal  System  was  delivered  June  15  ;  the 
speech  on  the  Mexican  Treaty  and  "  Monroe  Doctrine  " 
was  pronounced,  June  27  ;  the  speech  in  favor  of  pro 
hibiting  all  traffic  in  intoxicating  drinks  in  the  city  of 
Washington  preceded  by  only  three  days  the  speech 
against  providing  intoxicating  drinks  for  the  navy,  July 
25.  Eight  or  nine  shorter  speeches  were  thrown  in, 
making  altogether  a  full  record  of  work  for  a  man  past 
middle  age  and  impaired  in  health. 

To  analyze  these  speeches  would  take  more  space 
than  is  warranted,  for  they  are  at  once  comprehensive 
and  discursive.*  It  is  sufficient  to  say  that  they  fully 
declared  his  mind  on  all  the  points  presented  in  his 
manifesto,  and  which  have  been  already  explained.  His 
ideas  of  government,  war,  slavery,  temperance,  finance, 
are  stated  with  his  usual  clearness,  fearlessness  and 
force.  No  peculiarity  or  eccentricity  is  concealed  or 
qualified.  Their  style  is  simple,  direct,  unrhetorical. 
They  are  earnest  talks,  without  close  arrangement,  or 
literary  finish  ;  massive,  exuberant,  flowing,  delivered 
with  an  air  of  confidence  wholly  unlike  the  studied  man 
ner  of  this  class  of  productions.  Impressive  they  must 
have  been,  and  interesting ;  but  were  probably  not  con- 
*  Gerrit  Smith  in  Congress.  New  York,  1855. 


SLAVERY.  221 

vincing  to  the  listening  politicians,  who  had  never  learned 
the  force  of  the  pure  reason.  His  general  ideas  they 
smiled  at  as  visionary  ;  harmless  because  impracticable. 
Some  of  his  particular  notions,  such  for  instance  as  that 
of  a  national  police,  composed  of  men  strong  in  intelli 
gence  and  character,  who  should  represent  the  power  of 
the  country  in  place  of  the  army,  stamped  him,  in  their 
regard,  as  a  crazy  enthusiast.  It  is  pretty  clear  that  to 
all  but  his  enemies,  Mr.  Smith's  career  in  Congress  was 
a  disappointment.  The  Chicago  Tribune  expressed  a 
common  sentiment  when  it  described  him  as  a  wrong 
headed  fanatic,  wilful  and  intractable,  conceited  and 
wayward,  whose  intellect  ran  to  paradox,  whose  wisdom 
was  akin  to  folly,  and  who  injured  his  own  side  more 
than  the  opposition.  His  constituency  were  indignant 
because  he  resigned  at  the  end  of  a  single  session  the 
place  he  had  accepted  unwillingly,  at  great  inconvenience 
and  sacrifice,  and  had  filled  as  well  as  he  could,  and  as 
long  as  he  thought  himself  useful,  and  would  have  held 
longer  had  not  a  better  man,  as  he  thought,  Henry  C. 
Goodwin,  stood  ready  to  take  it. 

"  What  member  of  Congress,"  he  said,  "  ever  worked  harder  than 
I  did  ?  What  one  ever  made  so  many  speeches  and  on  so  great  a 
variety  of  subjects,  in  a  single  session  ?  Remember  that  you  put 
me  in  nomination  against  my  will.  I  had  entertained  no  more 
thought  of  going  to  Congress  than  to  the  moon.  I  went  there,  leav 
ing  my  large  private  affairs  unsettled,  and  plans  unfinished,  which, 
in  at  least  my  own  view,  were  plans  of  usefulness  to  my  fellow-men. 
The  Congress  of  which  I  was  a  member  was  in  session  eleven 
months.  Perhaps  no  member  was  more  constantly  in  his  seat  for 
the  first  eight  months.  I  then  resigned,  and  left  my  constituents, 
without  putting  them  to  the  pains  and  expense  of  a  special  election,  to 
supply  my  place  for  the  remaining  three  months.  They  did  supply  it 
with  a  man  of  talents,  and  an  earnest  friend  of  the  slave.  Surely,  in  the 
light  of  these  facts,  I  ought  not  to  be  censured  for  my  resignation." 


222  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

Criticism  on  the  Congressional  career  bore  upon 
three  points.  I.  His  vote  against  the  "  Homestead  Bill," 
which  he  had  advocated  in  one  of  his  most  eloquent 
speeches.  2.  His  refusal  to  become  a  party  to  the  Re 
publican  plan  to  prevent  the  taking  of  a  vote  on  the 
Nebraska  Bill.  3.  His  plea  for  the  annexation  of  Cuba 
to  the  United  States.  The  first  he  justified  easily,  and 
with  the  full  approval  of  leading  abolitionists, — Judge 
Jay  enthusiastically  applauding, — on  the  ground  that 
the  bill,  as  voted  on,  was  altered  so  as  to  confine  the 
homestead  privilege  to  white  people,  thus  excluding  the 
blacks  from  the  land,  and  virtually  denying  their  right, 
as  human  beings,  to  the  unrestricted  gifts  of  Providence. 
His  action  in  the  second  case  was  explained  on  the  idea 
that  it  was  an  infringement  on  the  democratic  principle 
for  a  minority,  by  party  tactics,  to  thwart  or  obstruct 
the  will  of  the  majority.  From  this  position  nothing 
could  move  him  ;  neither  the  supplications  of  the  aboli 
tionists,  nor  the  remonstrances  of  the  Republicans  ;  nei 
ther  the  persuasions  of  his  friends,  nor  the  taunts  of  his 
enemies.  The  principle  he  acted  on,  when,  instead  of 
sitting  all  night  in  the  house  that  he  might  count  one, 
he  went  as  usual  to  his  quiet  bed,  was  one  he  had  medi 
tated  on  for  years,  and  had  worked  into  the  very  tex 
ture  of  his  mind  ;  and  he  could  not,  in  an  hour  of  feverish 
excitement,  desert  it.  In  vain  the  abolition  press  abused 
him  ;  in  vain  the  New  York  Tribune  poured  upon  him 
its  sarcasm,  its  argument  steeped  in  gall ;  in  vain  some 
taunted  him  with  cowardice,  others  scolded  at  him  for 
wrong-headedness,  and  others  again  jeered  at  his  incu 
rable  propensity  to  go  to  bed  at  sundown,  though  Fate 
was  knocking  at  the  door ;  he  never  saw  the  impropriety 


SLAVERY.  223 

of  his  action,  and  consequently  never  was  sorry  for  it 
The  acrid  criticism  of  Horace  Greeley  did  provoke  him 
to  a  reply  which  called  out  counter  replies,  and  led  to  a 
sharp  controversy  in  which  he  met  the  fate  that  always 
befals  the  assailant  of  a  powerful  newspaper,  but  in  which 
he  did  succeed  in  putting  the  real  facts  of  the  case  before 
the  country.  His  final  vote  against  the  bill,  taken  at 
eleven  o'clock  at  night,  amid  the  fumes  of  tobacco  and 
whiskey,  the  hissing  of  spittoons,  and  the  unseemly 
clamor  of  half  drunken  representatives,  was  a  sufficient 
vindication  of  his  earnestness,  and  a  sufficient  answer 
to  the  foolish  taunt  that  he  consulted  his  personal  ease 
more  than  the  cause  he  was  sent  to  serve. 

The  annexation  of  Cuba  was  a  side  question ;  con 
sequently  the  position  he  took  in  regard  to  it  puzzled 
more  than  it  enraged.  He  defended  his  position,  not 
as  others  did,  on  geographical,  commercial  or  any  kin 
dred  considerations  ;  certainly  not  as  the  slaveholder  did, 
who  urged  annexation  because  it  would  extend  the  area 
of  his  darling  institution  ;  but  because,  as  an  abolitionist, 
he  wished  for  the  overthrow  of  slavery  and  believed 
that  the  annexation  of  Cuba  would  help  to  bring  it  about. 
His  reasoning  was  original,  and  may  have  been  fanciful, 
but  it  was  honest.  He  argued  that,  Cub'an  slavery 
being  better  in  theory  than  the  American,  though  worse 
in  practice,  each  would  tend  to  modify  and  destroy 
the  other ;  the  American  practice  ameliorating  the  con 
dition  of  the  blacks  in  Cuba,  the  Cuban  theory  mitigating 
the  cruelty  of  the  American  slave  laws,  while  both  were 
brought  under  the  action  of  republican  ideas.  Again, 
he  argued  that  the  annexation  of  Cuba  would  put  a  stop 
legally  to  the  African  slave  trade,  and  would  make  Spain 


224  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

an  anti-slavery  nation.  The  withdrawal  of  Spanish 
troops  from  Cuba,  and  therefore  of  military  support  of 
the  institution,  would  follow  as  a  thing  of  course,  and 
the  system  would  take  its  chance  in  a  population  too 
nearly  allied  by  temperament,  blood,  habits  and  social 
condition  to  the  blacks  to  keep  them  long  in  bondage. 
The  slaveholders  would  be  too  few  to  maintain  it,  and  it 
would  disappear.  For  the  project  of  replacing  Spanish 
troops  by  American  could  not  for  a  moment  be  enter 
tained,  even  if  American  troops  could  be  relied  on  to 
enforce  the  stricter  laws  of  our  slavery  in  an  island  where, 
for  ages,  a  milder  system  had  prevailed.  The  attempt 
would  provoke  a  bloody  insurrection  which  the  whole 
force  of  the  United  States  would  be  unable  to  quell. 
These  are  abstract  considerations,  resting  upon  conjec 
ture  merely,  and  carried  no  weight  against  the  popular 
instinct,  which,  on  the  one  side,  made  the  slaveholders 
a  unit  in  favor  of  annexation,  and  leagued  the  aboli 
tionists  as  one  man  in  opposition  to  it.  The  reasoning 
may  have  been  good,  nevertheless  ;  at  all  events  its  ori 
ginality  does  not  convict  it  of  folly ;  still  less  does  it 
convict  the  reasoner  of  baseness. 

Gerrit  Smith,  in  Congress,  was  precisely  what  he  was 
out  of  it,  what  he  had  always  been,  what  those  at  all  ac 
quainted  with  him,  might  have  known  he  always  would 
be.  He  was  himself. 

The  following  notes  indicate  Mr.  Sumner's  feeling: 

Washington,  gth  Aug.,  '54. 

My  Dear  Friend — Your  speech  on  temperance  has  made  a 
convert  in  Francis Markoe,  Esq.,  of  the  State  Department,  occupying 
an  important  bureau  there,  who  expresses  an  admiration  of  it  with 
out  stint.  He  wishes  some  twenty-five  copies  to  circulate  among 
friends.  Will  you  send  them  to  him  with  your  frank  ? 


SLAVERY.  22$ 

I  leave  to-morrow  for  the  North,  regretting  much  not  to  see  you 
again  before  I  go — regretting  more  that  you   forbid  me  to  hope  to 
see  you  next  winter  when  I  return  to  renew  our  struggle. 
You  ought  not  to  desert ! 

Ever  yours, 

CHARLES  SUMNER. 

Boston,  i6th  Oct.,  '55. 

My  Dear  Gerrit  Smith  —  Pardon  me ;  but  I  do  not  see  on  what 
ground  you  can  be  excused  from  a  public  lecture  here  in  Boston  and 
also  in  New  York.  Here  is  an  opportunity  to  do  much  good.  Your 
presence  would  give  character  and  weight  to  our  cause.  It  cannot 
afford  to  miss  you. 

You  excuse  yourself  on  account  of  your  many  engagements  at 
home.  I  understand  these  ;  but  we  have  a  right  to  expect  you  to 
make  the  necessary  sacrifice.  You  are  rich,  and  can  afford  it. 
Let  your  great  fortune  miss  for  a  short  time  your  watchful  eye,  and 
come  to  us  in  Boston  and  New  York.  One  lecture  will  do  for  both 
places. 

Here  also  is  an  opportunity  to  commend  your  views  by  argument, 
and  personal  presence,  which  you  should  not  abandon. 

I  do  long  to  have  our  great  controversy,  which  is  so  much  dis 
credited  in  the  large  cities,  upheld  by  your  voice.     Come  among  us. 
Let  us  have  those  rich  tones,  and  that  generous  heart,  and  that  un- 
mitigable  hatred  of  slavery  to  leaven  our  masses.     Come.     Do. 
Ever  sincerely  yours, 

CHARLES  SUMNER. 
Honorable  Gerrit  Smith. 

Washington,  i8th  March,  '56. 

My  Dear  Qerrit  Smith  —  I  have  your  volume,  "  Gerrit  Smith 
in  Congress,"  and  am  glad  to  possess  it. 

I  am  happy  also  that  it  owes  its  origin  in  any  degree  to  a  hint 
from  me. 

Of  this  I  am  sure.  It  will  remain  a  monument  of  your  constant, 
able  and  devoted  labors  during  a  brief  term  in  Congress,  and  will  be 
recognized  as  an  arsenal  of  truth,  whence  others  will  draw  bright 
weapons. 

Douglas  has  appeared  at  last  on  the  scene,  and  with  him  that 
vulgar  swagger  which  ushered  in  the  Nebraska  debate.  Truly — 
truly — this  is  a  godless  place.  Read  that  report,  also  the  President's 
10* 


226  LIFE  OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

messages,  and  see  how  completely  the  plainest  rights  of  the  people 
of  Kansas  are  ignored.     My  heart  is  sick. 

And  yet  I  am  confident  that  Kansas  will  be  a  free  State.  But  we 
have  before  us  a  long  season  of  excitement,  and  ribald  debate,  in 
which  truth  will  be  mocked  and  reviled. 

Remember  me  kindly  to  your  family,  and  believe  me, 
My  dear  friend, 

Sincerely  yours, 

CHARLES  SUMNER. 

Mr.  Smith's  powerful  speech  against  the  Nebraska 
Bill,  the  motto  whereof  was  "  No  slavery  in  Nebraska  ; 
no  slavery  in  the  nation  ;  slavery  an  outlaw,"  was  de 
livered  on  the  6th  of  April,  1854;  the  bill  passed  the 
house  on  the  I5th  of  May.  The  question  now  arose 
which — the  north  or  the  south,  democratic  or  slave  insti 
tutions,  should  first  occupy,  possess  and  control  the 
thinly  peopled  territories,  and  organize  them  into  States. 
It  was  a  race  for  conquest  between  the  people  who  lived 
south  and  the  people  who  lived  north  of  "  Mason  and 
Dixon's  line."  The  territory  lay  close  to  the  south 
ern  boundary,  making  the  access  from  Missouri  easy. 
The  sons  of  freedom  lived  at  a  distance,  in  the  Middle 
and  Eastern  States.  Now  was  the  time  for  men  of 
wealth,  eloquence,  influence  and  public  spirit  to  bestir 
themselves.  They  did  so,  and  effectually.  Happy  was 
Gerrit  Smith  now,  to  be  at  home,  on  his  own  ground, 
with  his  neighbors  and  friends  about  him,  and  his  hands 
on  the  machinery  he  so  well  knew  how  to  use.  There 
was  call  for  money ;  and  that  was  a  weapon  he  could 
wield  to  some  purpose.  There  was  call  for  plain  speech, 
not  addressed  to  lazy  legislators,  but  sent  straight  to  the 
heart  of  colonists  ;  and  such  was  the  speech  that  he  was 
master  of.  There  was  call  for  close  intercourse  among 


SLAVERY.  227 

the  leaders  of  the  new  crusade  ;  and  this  intercourse  he 
had  been  forming  for  years.  The  centre  of  the  activity 
in  sending  emigrants  to  Kansas  and  Nebraska  was  New 
England,  for  there  the  zeal  was  hottest ;  there  the  popu 
lation  was  most  dense,  and  organizations  were  compact. 
In  the  middle  of  New  York,  such  concentrated  action 
was  not  possible.  A  man  like  Gerrit  Smith  stood  alone, 
and  worked  by  his  own  methods.  We  have  seen  enough 
of  him  to. know  that  he  could  not  use  other  men's  ideas 
or  arrangements.  With  the  record  of  his  life  before  us, 
we  cannot  agree  with  Mr.  Thurlow  Weed,  that  he  was 
"  wildly  possessed  by  one  idea,"  that  "  he  lived  for  near 
ly  thirty  years  of  his  life  in  a  state  of  political  hallucina 
tion,"  that  "his  mind  had  hovered  on  the  brink  of  in 
sanity  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century."  He  was 
as  far  as  it  is  possible  for  a  man  to  be  from  fanaticism  ; 
and  so  many  ideas  occupied  his  mind  that  no  one  could 
get  possession  of  him.  This  is  one  reason  why  he  could 
not  work  with  a  party  ;  he  saw  too  many  aspects  of  every 
question.  He  was  almost,  if  not  quite  alone,  among 
abolitionists,  in  reasonableness  of  sentiment  towards  the 
south.  At  the  close  of  the  war,  when  the  south  was 
beaten  and  prostrate,  he  was  but  one  of  many  to  recal 
the  fact  that  the  guilt  of  the  rebellion  and  the  responsi 
bility  for  the  causes  which  resulted  in  the  rebellion,  were 
not  exclusively  hers.  Before  the  war,  and  while  the  vir 
ulent  causes  were  at  work,  exasperating  the  friends  of 
freedom,  he  was  able  to  make  allowance  for  the  slave 
holder,  to  comprehend  his  embarrassments,  to  under 
stand  his  position.  In  the  heat  of  the  Kansas  trouble, 
at  a  meeting  held  at  Syracuse,  Oct.  1856,  to  commemo 
rate  the  rescue  of  Jerry,  he  said  :  "  I  pity  the  poor 


228  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

slaveholder !  I  pity  him  more  than  I  do  the  slave  ! " 
"  More  than  you  do  the  slave  ?"  cried  an  excited  lis 
tener.  "  Yes,"  was  the  reply,  "  much  more  ;  for  the 
slaveholder  is  the  victim  of  a  fatal  delusion  which  is  en 
dorsed  by  most  of  the  churches  and  clergy  of  this  coun 
try — a  delusion  which  is  ruining  the  slaveholder,  soul 
and  body,  for  time  and  eternity  !  God  will  take  care  of 
the  slave  ;  but  the  poor  slaveholder  will  never  know  till 
he  stands  before  his  God,  the  evil  he  has  done."  The 
effects  of  education  in  making  men  unconscious  of  wrong 
doing  and  morally  protecting  them  against  personal 
contamination  from  its  guilt,  should  be  familiar  enough 
to  every  man  never  to  be  forgotten  ;  but  they  are  for 
gotten  continually  ;  few  remember  them  when  most  they 
need  to  be  borne  in  mind.  He  was  never  oblivious  of 
them  ;  nor  did  he  ever  lose  sight  of  the  fact — this  was 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  features  of  his  unsectarian 
church — that  character  may  be  independent,  not  of  creeds 
merely,  but  even  of  conduct ;  that  good  men  and  women, 
— as  good  as  any,  perhaps,  —  may  be  found  among 
people  who  are  implicated  in  evil  institutions,  not  as 
victims,  but  as  supporters  of  them. 

Nor  was  he  blind  to  the  weaknesses  of  the  negro 
character.  For  many  years,  the  vicious  moral  condition 
of  the  blacks,  whether  in  slavery  or  out  of  it,  was  a 
heavy  burden  on  his  heart.  In  1842,  he  issued  an  ad 
dress  to  the  slaves,  exhorting  them  to  cultivate  the  dis 
positions  becoming  to  poor,  afflicted  men,  patience, 
trust,  hopefulness.  Dr.  Channing  found  fault  with  it  as 
being  disturbing,  exciting,  even  revolutionary  in  its  ten 
dency  ;  but  really  it  evinced  a  deep  concern  for  their  ra 
tional  being,  and  an  apprehension  lest  they  might,  in 


SLAVERY.  229 

their  desire  for  freedom,  neglect  the  qualities  that  would 
render  them  fit  for  it.  To  the  liberated  blacks  of  the 
northern  States,  he  was  unsparing  of  counsel  and  admo 
nition.  The  "  Address  of  the  Liberty  Party  to  the 
Colored  People  of  the  northern  States,"  presented  at 
the  BufTalo  Convention,  in  1848,  shows  no  lack  of  infor 
mation  respecting  their  infirmities  and  infidelities,  and 
no  lack  of  frankness  in  imparting  it ;  their  natural  in 
clination  to  idleness  and  shiftlessness,  their  carelessness 
of  rights  and  duties,  addictedness  to  animal  pleasures, 
dishonesty,  untruthfulness,  unchastity;  their  stupid  do 
cility  in  following  the  guidance  of  political  and  religious 
leaders,  their  general  want  of  self-respect,  their  insensi 
bility  to  personal  and  social  duties,  are  set  forth  with 
a  plainness  which  would  have  been  exceedingly  unpal 
atable,  had  the  censor  been  less  unquestionably  a  friend. 
The  resolutions  offered  at  the  National  Convention  of 
the  colored  people,  at  Troy,  thanking  him  for  his  gift  of 
one  hundred  and  forty  thousand  acres  of  land,  drew 
from  him  a  letter  which  contains  language  like  this : 

"  The  free  colored  people  of  this  country  have  lost  their  self-re 
spect.  Hence  my  gravest  doubt  of  their  redemption.  Hence  too,  my 
gravest  doubt  that  they  will  ever  exert  an  effectual  influence  for  the 
redemption  of  their  enslaved  brethren.  .  .  .  Could  I  but  get  the 
ear  of  my  northern  colored  brethren, — could  I  but  get  it  away  from 
their  flatterers  and  deceivers — I  would  say  to  them :  '  Cultivate  self- 
respect  ;  cultivate  self-respect,' — for  by  that  means,  and  not  without 
that  means,  can  you  peaceably  regain  your  own  rights,  or  the  rights 
of  your  race  at  the  south." 

Iii  January  1851,  there  was  a  meeting  at  Syracuse,  to 
consider  the  duties  imposed  by  the  Fugitive  Slave  Bill, — 
Frederick  Douglass  presiding. — Gerrit  Smith  presented 
the  same  address  and  resolutions  he  had  reported  at  the 


230  LIFE   OF  G ERR  IT  SMITH. 

State  Convention,  in    the  same   city,   the  day  before. 
Again  his  voice  rings  out : 

"  Would  to  God,  brethren,  that  you  were  inspired  with  self-re 
spect  !  Then  would  others  be  inspired  with  respect  for  you  ; — and 
then  would  the  days  of  American  slavery  be  numbered.  We  entreat 
you  to  rise  up  and  quit  yourselves  like  men,  in  all  your  political  and 
ecclesiastical  and  social  relations.  You  admit  your  degradation  ; — 
but  you  seek  to  excuse  it  on  the  ground  that  it  is  forced — that  it  is 
involuntary.  An  involuntary  degradation  !  We  are  half  disposed 
to  deny  its  possibility,  and  to  treat  the  language  as  a  solecism.  At 
any  rate,  we  feel  comparatively  no  concern  for  what  of  your  degra 
dation  comes  from  the  hands  of  others.  It  is  your  self -degradation 
which  fills  us  with  sorrow — sorrow  for  yourselves,  and  still  more  for 
the  millions  whose  fate  turns  so  largely  on  your  bearing.  We  know, 
and  it  grieves  us  to  know,  that  white  men  are  your  murderers.  But, 
our  far  deeper  grief  is  that  you  are  suicides." 

There  is  no  fanaticism  in  that. 

Equally  manful  is  the  comment  on  the  liberators. 
Thus  the  Abolitionist  writes  to  Wendell  Phillips,  the 
prince  of  Abolitionists,  in  1855: 

"  Considerable  as  have  been  the  pecuniary  sacrifices  of  abolition 
ists  in  their  cause,  they  fall  far  short  of  the  merits  of  that  precious 
cause.  It  is  but  a  small  proportion  of  them  who  refuse  to  purchase 
the  cotton  and  sugar  and  rice  that  are  wet  with  the  tears  and  sweat 
and  blood  of  the  slave.  And  when  we  count  up  those  who  have 
sealed  with  their  blood  their  consecration  to  the  anti-slavery  cause, 
we  find  their  whole  number  to  be  scarcely  half  a  dozen. 

"  In  none  of  the  qualities  of  the  best  style  of  men — and  that  is  the 
style  of  men  needed  to  effectuate  the  bloodless  termination  of  Amer 
ican  slaver)' — have  the  abolitionists  shown  themselves  more  deficient 
than  in  magnanimity,  confidence,  charity.  They  have  judged  neither 
the  slaveholders  nor  each  other,  generously.  .  .  .  The  quarrels 
of  abolitionists  with  each  other,  and  their  jealousy  and  abuse  of  each 
other  would  be  far  less  had  they  more  magnanimity,  confidence, 
charity.  Many  of  them  delight  in  casting  each  other  down,  rather 
than  in  building  each  other  up.  Complain  of  each  other  they  must ; 
and  when  there  is  no  occasion  for  complaint,  their  ill-natured  inge 
nuity  can  manufacture  an  occasion  oui  of  the  very  smallest  materials. 


SLAVERY.  251 

Were  even  you,  whose  trueness  to  the  slave  is  never  to  be  doubted, 
to  be  sent  to  Congress,  many  of  your  abolition  brethren  would  be  on 
the  alert  to  find  some  occasion  for  calling  your  integrity  in  question. 
It  is  no  wonder  that  slaveholders  despise  both  us  and  our 
cause.  Our  cowardice  and  vacillation,  and  innumerable  follies  have, 
almost  necessarily,  made  both  us  and  it  contemptible.  The  way  for 
us  to  bring  slaveholders  right  on  slavery  is  to  be  right  on  it  ourselves. 
The  way  for  us  to  command  the  respect,  ay,  and  to  win  the  love  of 
slaveholders,  is  to  act  honestly,  in  regard  to  slavery  and  to  all  things 
else.  Do  I  mean  to  say  that  slaveholders  can  be  brought  to  love 
abolitionists  ?  Oh  yes  !  and  I  add,  that  abolitionists  should  love 
slaveholders.  We  are  all  brothers  ;  and  we  are  all  sinners  too ;  and 
the  difference  between  ourselves,  as  sinners,  is  not  so  great,  as  in 
our  prejudice  on  the  one  hand  and  our  self-complacency  on  the  other, 
we  are  wont  to  imagine  it  to  be." 

Another  evidence  of  the  temperate  character  01  his 
mind  is  his  opinion — entertained  until  the  outbreak  of 
the  war — that,  in  the  event  of  emancipation,  the  North 
should  share  with  the  South  the  expense  incident  to  the 
sacrifice  of  so  much  property.  This  he  maintained  in  a 
speech  at  a  "  National  Compensation  Convention  "  held 
in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  August  25,  26  and  27,  1857: 

"We  are  met,"  he  said,  "to  initiate — I  might  perhaps,  rather 
say,  to  inaugurate — a  great  movement,  one  that  is  full  of  promise  to 
the  slave  and  the  slaveholder,  and  our  whole  cou'ntry.  It  is  not  so 
much  to  awaken  interest  in  their  behalf  that  we  have  corne  together, 
as  it  is  to  give  expression  to  such  interest — a  practical  and  effective 
expression. 

"  We  are  here  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  public  and  formal, 
and,  as  we  hope,  an  impressive  confession  that  the  North  ought  to 
share  with  the  South  in  the  temporary  losses  that  will  result  from 
the  abolition  of  slavery.  Indeed,  such  are  our  relations  to  the  South 
in  the  matter  of  slavery,  that,  on  the  score  of  simple  honesty,  we 
ought  to  share  in  these  losses." 

No  man  took  stronger  ground  in  regard  to  Kansas 
than-  Gerrit  Smith ;  no  man  spoke  braver  words,  or 
backed  them  by  more  consistent  deeds.  The  scrap- 


232  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

books,  about  this  period — 1855,  1856 — contain  a  record 
of  thoughts  and  actions  that  might  satisfy  the  most  ar 
dent  warrior.  A  few  extracts  from  the  long  printed  let 
ters  and  speeches  are  all  that  can  be  given  here.  This 
is  from  a  speech  delivered  at  a  Kansas  meeting  held  at 
the  Capitol  in  Albany,  March  13,  1856: 

"  I  hear  one  thing  of  the  people  of  Kansas  which  I  am  sorry  to 
hear.  I  hope  it  is  not  true.  It  is  that  they  shall  be  willing  to  sub 
mit  to  this  ruffian  government,  provided  the  Federal  government 
shall  require  them  to  do  so.  But  in  no  event,  must  they  submit  to 
it.  They  must  resist  it,  even  if  in  doing  so,  they  have  to  resist  both 
Congress  and  President.  And  we  must  stand  by  them  in  their  re 
sistance.  Let  us  bring  the  case  home  to  ourselves.  Suppose  the 
legislators  who  meet  in  this  building,  were  to  enact  a  statute  depriv 
ing  us  of  the  freedom  of  speech,  and  making  it  a  penitentiary  offence 
to  express  an  opinion  against  the  rightfulness  of  slaveholding — would 
we  submit  to  the  statute  ?  No,  we  would  much  rather  march  into 
this  building,  and  hurl  from  their  seats  the  men  guilty  of  such  a 
perversion  of  their  official  powers.  And  we  would  be  no  less  prompt 
to  do  this,  even  though  all  the  congresses  and  presidents  on  earth 
were  backing  them." 

The  following  is  from  a  letter  printed  in  the  Syracuse 
Daily  Journal  dated  May  31,  1856,  addressed  to  the 
callers  of  a  Kansas  Convention  there: 

"  I  wish  the  convention  would  go  with  me  in  voting  slavery  to 
death.  But  I  tell  you,  gentlemen,  with  all  my  heart,  that  if  the  con 
vention  is  not  ready  to  go  with  me  in  voting  slavery  to  death,  I  am 
ready  to  go  with  it  in  putting  slavery  to  a  violent  death.  .  .  Con 
cluding  that  your  convention  will  decide  to  fight  rather  than  to  vote 
against  slavery,  I  hope  it  will  originate  a  movement  as  broad  as  our 
whole  State,  and  taxing  the  courage,  energy  and  liberality  of  every 
part  of  the  State.  I  hope  to  hear  that  it  has  adopted  measures  to 
raise  one  million  of  dollars  and  one  thousand  men.  I  will  not  doubt 
that  both  can  be  readily  obtained.  If  they  cannot  be,  then  are  the 
people  of  New  York  so  degenerate  and  abject  as  to  invite  the  yoke 
of  slavery  on  their  own  necks. 

"  A  word  in  regard  to  the  thousand  men.     They  should  not  be 


SLAVERY.  233 

whiskey  drinkers,  nor  profane  swearers.  They  should  have  the 
purity  and  zeal  of  Cromwell's  armies,  and,  therefore,  would  they 
have  the  invincibility  of  those  armies. 

"  For  myself,  I  am  too  old,  and  too  ignorant  of  arms,  to  fight. 
I  scarcely  know  how  to  load  a  gun,  and  I  am  not  certain  that  I  ever 
saw  a  Sharpe's  rifle,  or  a  revolver,  or  a  bowie  knife.  I  could  not 
have  encouraged  others  to  fight,  had  not  slavery  invaded  the  free 
State  of  Kansas.  Which  of  the  Free  States  it  will  next  seek  to  con 
quer,  I  cannot  conjecture.  Hitherto  I  have  opposed  the  bloody 
abolition  of  slavery.  But  now,  when  it  begins  to  march  its  conquer 
ing  bands  into  the  Free  States,  I  and  ten  thousand  other  peace  men 
are  not  only  ready  to  have  it  repulsed  with  violence,  but  pursued 
even  unto  death,  with  violence.  Remember,  however,  that  anti- 
slavery  voting — real,  not  sham  anti-slavery  voting — would  have  pre 
vented  all  need  of  this. 

"  I  said  that  I  am  unfit  to  fight.  Nevertheless  I  can  do  some 
thing  for  the  good  cause.  Some  can  give  to  it  brave  hearts  and 
strong  arms,  and  military  skill ;  others  can  give  to  it  the  power  of 
prayer  with  Him  'who  shall  break  in  pieces  the  oppressor;'  and 
others  can  give  money  to  it, — the  cheapest  indeed,  and  least  merit 
orious  of  all  the  gifts — nevertheless  indispensable.  I  am  among 
those  who  can  help  the  cause  with  this  poorest  of  gifts.  It  is  true 
that  my  very  frequent  contributions  during  the  past  year  in  aid  of 
our  suffering  people  in  Kansas,  have  exhausted  my  current  means. 
Nevertheless,  I  authorize  you  to  put  me  down  for  ten  thousand  dol 
lars  of  the  million." 

On  August  16,  1858,  when  the  Kansas  war  was  sub 
stantially  ended,  he  wrote  and  spoke  thus  : 

"  I  have  often  thought  that  the  industrious  efforts  to  persuade 
the  people  that  I  have  been  untrue  to  freedom  in  Kansas,  present 
the  most  remarkable  instances  of  the  success  of  a  lie  against  the 
truth.  Having  done  what  I  could  for  her  in  Congress,  I  came  home 
to  do  much  more  for  her.  My  use  of  men  and  money  to  keep  sla 
very  out  of  tliat  territory  has  been  limited  only  by  my  ability. 

"  The  true  history  of  Kansas  is  yet  to  be  written.  The  impres 
sion  that  she  has  been  preserved  from  the  grasp  of  slavery  by  the 
skill  of  party  leaders  and  by  speeches  in  Congress,  is  as  false  as  it  is 
common.  She  has  been  preserved  from  it  by  her  own  brave  spirits  and 
scrong  arms.  To  no  man  living  is  so  much  praise  due  for  beating 
back  the  tide  of  border  ruffianism  and  slavery  as  to  my  old  and  dear 


234  LIFE    OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

friend  John  Brown  of  Osowatomie.  Though  he  has  had  at  no  time 
under  his  command  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  fighting  men, 
yet  by  his  unsurpassed  skill  and  courage  he  has  accomplished  won 
ders  for  the  cause  of  freedom.  Small  as  have  been  the  armed  for 
ces,  which  have  saved  Kansas,  their  maintenance  has  nevertheless 
taxed  some  persons  heavily.  My  eye  at  this  moment  is  on  one  mer 
chant  in  Boston,  who  has  contributed  several  thousand  dollars  to 
this  object.  What,  compared  with  him,  has  gaseous  oratory,  in  or 
out  of  Congress,  done  for  Kansas  ?" 

Again : 

"  No  man  out  of  Kansas  has  done  so  much  as  Eli  Thayer  to 
save  her ;  and  no  man  in  Kansas  as  John  Brown — Old  John  Brown. 
the  fighter.  Kansas  owes  her  salvation  to  no  party — to  no  speeches 
and  no  votes  either  in  Congress  or  elsewhere.  She  owes  it  to  her 
ample  preparations  to  repel  by  physical  force  the  aggressions  of 
slavery.  She  believed  slavery  to  be  a  pirate — the  superlative  pi 
rate  ;  and  she  prepared  herself  to  deal  with  it  in  just  that  common 
sense  way  that  every  persistent  pirate  is  to  be  dealt  with." 

The  tribute  to  John  Brown  was  sincere.  He  was 
essentially  a  man  after  Gerrit  Smith's  own  heart.  They 
were  alike,  and  yet  unlike.  Both  were  men  of  purpose, 
direct,  simple,  earnest,  upright.  Both  lived  for  human 
ity.  Both  held  dear  the  cause  of  the  poor,  the  lowly, 
the  afflicted,  the  oppressed.  Both  believed  in  justice 
and  righteousness.  Both  revered  one  law ;  the  law  of 
rectitude.  Both  believed  in  the  divine  institution  of 
government.  Both  detested  slavery,  regarded  it  as  an 
outlaw,  and  incessantly  prayed  and  worked  for  its  ex 
tinction.  But  they  were  of  different  temperaments  and 
constitutions.  The  one  was  large  and  stately,  of  expan 
sive  and  superb  presence,  sunny,  beaming,  melodious, 
open  of  hand  and  heart,  trusting  and  sanguine  ;  the 
other  was  also  above  middle  height,  but  close,  concentra 
ted  and  intense,  taciturn,  serious,  gentle,  but  alert  and 
circumspect.  Both  were  sincerely  religious  ;  both  were 


SLAVERY.  235 

bible  men  ;  but  one  had  watched  and  waited  at  the  base 
of  Sinai,  the  other  had  sate  among  the  complacent 
listeners  to  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  Both  were  peace 
men,  though  neither  was  non-resistant  ;  yet  practically 
their  feelings  were  differently  turned,  as  was  strikingly 
apparent  in  the  circumstance  that  the  one  was  innocent 
of  all  knowledge  of  firearms  and  warlike  weapons  of  any 
sort,  while  the  other  was  a  resolute  fighter  and  a  leader 
of  armed  men.  The  sword  that  Smith  relied  on  was 
the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  the  essential  might  of  truth,  the 
power  of  principles,  the  superior  force  of  the  moral  sen 
timents  ;  the  sword  that  Brown  appealed  to  was  "  the 
sword  of  the  Lord  and  of  Gideon,"  principles  edged  and 
pointed  with  steel.  Brown  was  the  more  visionary  of 
the  two,  his  enthusiasm  being  streaked  with  a  vein  of 
fanaticism  which  was  absent  from  his  friend's  composi 
tion  ;  his  humor  was  grim  ;  his  hope  was  not  sunny  like 
the  morning,  but  pensive  and  grave. 

These  resemblances  and  differences  explain  the  mu 
tual  attraction  between  the  two  men,  and  also  their  fail 
ure  to  understand  one  another  entirely.  For  it  seems 
that  the  Kansas  hero  was  at  first  restrained  by  an  in 
stinct  from  disclosing  his  whole  mind  to  his  fellow-aboli 
tionist,  and  one  has  an  impression  that  the  latter  was 
constitutionally  unable  to  take  in  the  full  scope  and 
significance  of  the  Covenanter's  idea. 

They  made  acquaintance  on  the  8th  of  April,  1848, 
when  Brown  came  from  Springfield,  Mass.,  where  he 
resided,  to  make  a  home  for  himself  among  the  colored 
people  to  whom  the  great  land-holder  had  distributed  one 
hundred  and  twenty  thousand  acres.  His  kindness  to 
the  poor  colonists  as  shown  in  gifts  of  produce,  in  coun- 


236  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

sel  and  direction,  and  in  general  friendliness  gained  the 
respect  and  love  of  the  warm-hearted  benefactor.  Brown 
bought  his  own  farm  and  two  others  besides,  and  took 
his  family  to  North  Elba,  in  Essex  County.  On  the 
opening  of  Kansas  to  the  colonizing  freemen,  Brown 
went  there,  as  is  well  known,  to  do  his  part  in  rescuing 
the  state  from  slavery.  Peterboro  lay  in  his  way,  and 
he  stopped  to  talk  over  his  affairs  with  his  friend  there. 
Smith  gave  him  money,  without  asking  what  uses  in 
particular  he  designed  to  make  of  it,  being  interested  in 
his  operations  at  both  ends  of  the  line, — small  sums  at 
first  ranging  from  twenty  to  fifty  dollars,  whatever  might 
be  required,  sometimes  one  or  two  hundred,  but  never 
at  this  time  enough  for  any  considerable  scheme  or  en 
terprise, — in  all,  it  is  believed,  about  one  thousand  dol 
lars.  In  1855,  Brown  attended  an  anti-slavery  meeting 
in  Syracuse,  presented  the  cause  of  the  Kansas  emi 
grants,  described  their  hardships  and  dangers,  and  asked 
for  aid  to  relieve  their  sufferings  and  supply  them  with 
means  of  resistance  to  the  ruffians  who  assailed  them. 
Lewis  Tappan  and  S.  J.  May  approved  of  sending  relief 
to  the  sufferers,  but  opposed  gifts  of  money  to  be  spent 
for  arms.  Smith  in  the  meeting  concurred  with  them, 
and  it  was  stipulated  that  a  portion  of  the  money  raised 
should  be  used  for  charitable  purposes  alone.  It  was 
his  frequent  boast  that  the  rescue  of  "  Jerry"  had  been 
accomplished  without  the  shedding  of  blood,  and  there 
are  many  to  bear  witness  that  he  had  ever  deprecated 
the  resort  to  violent  measures  in  liberating  slaves.  The 
outrages  in  Kansas  more  than  reconciled  him,  as  we  have 
seen,  to  armed  resistance  to  invasion,  and  excited  him 
to  the  degree  that  he  avowed  his  readiness  to  pursue 


SLAVERY.  237 

slavery  even  unto  death.  But  this  was  not  his  habitual 
frame  of  mind  ;  and  when  the  stress  of  Kansas  peril  was 
over,  his  feeling  settled  into  its  usual  channels.  With 
John  Brown's  work  in  Kansas  he  expressed  no  discon 
tent.  The  military  operations  justified  themselves.  The 
following  records  are  in  the  diary : 

July  24,  1857.  "Col.  Hugh  Forbes  arrives  at  u  A.  M.,  on  his 
way  to  Kansas  to  assist  my  friend  Capt.  John  Brown  in  military 
operations.  I  put  some  money  into  his  hands.  I  have  put  some 
this  season  into  the  hands  of  Capt.  Brown. 

Feb.  18,  1858.  "Our  old  and  noble  friend,  Captain  John  Brown 
of  Kansas  arrives  this  evening-." 

22.  "  F.  B.  Sanborn  of  Concord,  Massachusetts,  arrives." 

24.  "Mr.  Sanborn  leaves  us  this  morning." 

25.  "Our  friend,  Captain  Brown,  leaves  us  to-day." 

Aprils,  1858.  "My  esteemed  friend,  Captain  John  Brown  and 
his  son  John  came  at  10  A.  M.  Leave  next  morning  at  6." 

April  11,  1859.  "Captain  John  Brown  of  Kansas,  and  his  friend 
Mr.  Anderson  came  at  11  A.  M." 

14.  "  Captain  Brown  and  Mr.  Anderson  leave  us  at  6  this 
morning." 

These  entries  are  made  without  comment,  along  with 
others  of  similar  character.  Guests  were  continually 
coming  and  going  without  prearrangement.  On  the  oc 
casion  of  his  last  recorded  visit,  April  11-14,  1859,  Brown 
held  a  public  meeting,  at  which  he  told  the  story  of  his 
exploit  in  carrying  a  number  of  slaves  from  Missouri  to 
Canada  and  asked  help  to  prosecute  the  work  on  a  larger 
scale.  Mr.  Smith  was  moved  to  tears  by  the  veteran's 
eloquence — headed  the  subscription  paper  with  four  hun 
dred  dollars,  and  made  an  impressive  speech,  in  which 
he  said — "  If  I  were  asked  to  point  out — I  will  say  it  in 
his  presence — to  point  out  the  man  in  all  this  world  I 
think  most  truly  a  Christian,  I  would  point  out  John 


238  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

Brown.  I  was  once  doubtful  in  my  own  mind  as  to 
Captain  Brown's  course.  I  now  approve  of  it  heartily, 
having  given  my  mind  to  it  more  of  late." 

But  all  this  work  in  Kansas  was  incidental  and  pro 
visional,  in  view  of  a  grander  scheme  which  for  years 
Brown's  mind  had  been  revolving  and  maturing,  and  which 
had  been  already  communicated  to  two  or  three  trusted 
friends.  This  was  no  less  than  an  assault  on  slavery  it 
self  in  its  own  dominions  by  opening  a  breach  in  its  wall 
and  planting  freedom  in  the  heart  of  its  territory.  His 
purpose  was  to  unsettle  the  foundations  of  the  institu 
tion,  and  so  compel  its  abandonment ;  and  his  plan  was 
to  effect  a  lodgment  in  the  mountains  of  a  border  state 
fortify  his  position  by  proper  defences,  circulate  appeals 
to  the  people,  near  and  far,  black  and  white^including 
the  military  of  the  United  States)  summon  the  blacks  to 
his  retreat,  give  them  arms  to  defend  themselves  against 

state  and   Government  troops,  keeping  .open  ,  a,  way  of 
i      ^T  i.     '^t^J^^sp-    <*£iW 

escape  to  the  North  but  working  steadily  to  the  South. 

Thus  in  time  the  slave  country  would  be,  he  thought, 
reclaimed  and  redeemed.  It  was  an  immense  plan,  in 
volving  a  multitude  of  contingencies  and  embracing 
years,  perhaps  decades  of  time,  with  possibilities,  nay 
nties,  of  ^insurrection^  and  bloodshed.  But  it  was 
conceived  in  such  a  spirit  of  faith  in  the  divine  provi 
dence,  in  the  supremacy  of  justice,  and  the  cooperation 
of  moral  agencies,  that  those  who  heard  it  were  fascinated 
in  spite  of  themselves.  The  encouragements  came  into 
light.  The  discouragements  fell  into  shadow.  The 
moral  aspect  was  illuminated,  the  immoral  aspects  of 
disorder,  violence,  anarchy  and  murder)were  thrown  into 
the  background;  and  the  splendor  of  the  anticipated  de- 


SLAVERY.  239 

liverance  cast  a  soft  glow  over  the  path  through  which 
it  was  to  be  reached.  The  enthusiast  had  meditated 
his  scheme  until  every  detail  of  its  execution  was  com 
pleted  and  set  in  its  place.  Every  objection  had  been 
anticipated,  every  question  had  been  raised  and  an 
swered  to  his  satisfaction.  He  had  even  gone  so  far  as 
to  frame  a  provisional  government  for  the  administration 
of  his  free  dominion,  the  draft  whereof  was  first  sub 
mitted  at  a  "  very  quiet  convention  "  of  the  "  true  friends 
of  freedom,"  in  Chatham,  Canada.  It  was  written  out  in 
January  of  1858,  at  the  house  of  Frederick  Douglass  in 
Rochester.  This  plan  he  was  anxious  to  submit  to 

friends,  and  with  this  view  he  asked  Theodore   Parker, 

K 
George  L.  Stearns,  T.  W.  Higgmson  and  F.  B.  Sanborn 

to  meet  him  at  Gerrit  Smith's  house  in  Peterboro.  San- 
born  alone  came ;  he  had  been  there  before  to  visit  a 
classmate,  Edwin  Morton,  who,  as  tutor  to  young  Greene 
Smith,  was  one  of  the  household.  This  is  the  visit  of 
February  22,  mentioned  above.  In  Morton's  room,  aloof 
from  the  other  guests  in  the  house,  Brown  detailed  his 
plan  ;  Smith  going  in  and  out.  but  being  present  during 
the  reading  of  the  paper, (with  which  he  was  probably 
already  familiar,  as  Brown  had  been  four  days  his  guest) 
and  taking  part  in  the  discussion  that  followed.  The 
colloquy  lasted  till  late  that  night,  and  was  resumed  the 
following  day.  (To  the  amazed  auditors  the  plan  looked 
not  so  much  audacious  as  chimerical^  The  obvious  ob 
jections  were  disposed  of;  the  old  man  was  prepared 
and  met  them  at  once,  until  at  last,  silenced,  awed,  fas- 
cinated,(but  not  convincecftthey  succumbed  to  the  hero's 
faith.  As  the  winter  sun  went  down  behind  the  lonely 
snow-covered  hills,  Smith  and  Sanborn  walked  for  an 


240  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

hour  talking  over  the  strange  scheme.  Smith  said  to 
Sanborn  :  "  You  see  how  it  is  ;  our  old  friend  has  made 
up  his  mind  to  this  course  of  action,  and  cannot  be 
turned  from  it.  We  cannot  give  him  up  to  die  alone; 
•we  must  stand  by  him.  I  will  raise  so  many  hundred 
dollars  for  him  ;  you  must  lay  the  case  before  your  friends 
in  Massachusetts,  and  see  if  they  will  do  the  same." 

Sanborn  returned  to  Boston  and  laid  the  matter  be 
fore  his  friends,  with  what  result  is  told  in  the  Atlantic 
Monthly  for  July,  1872.  On  the  24th  of  the  next  May, 
Smith  being  in  Boston  on  other  business,  the  "  secret 
committee  "  held  a  meeting  at  his  room  in  the  Revere 
House,  at  which  Brown  was  not  present,  when  the  situa 
tion  was  discussed,  and  the  conclusion  reached  that  the 
enterprise  should  be  deferred,  in  consequence  of  threat 
ened  disclosures,  till  the  spring  of  the  next  year.  Smith 
(no  doubt)pledged  his  share  of  the  sum  the  committee 

y,OK.  agreed  to  raise  for  Brown.  The  matter  of  the  rifles 
which  Brown  had  asked  for  did  not  concern  him,  as  they 
belonged  to  George  L.  Stearns.  On  June  4,  1859,  ^e 
wrote  a  note  to  Brown,  which  is  printed  in  the  Atlantic 
Monthly  for  May,  1875.  And  that  the  thought  of  Brown's 

jC/C  £invasion)was  then  on  hts  mind  i^s^all  but  certain  from  the 
letter  to  the  chairman  of  the  Jerry  Rescue  Committee, 
August  27,  1859,  which  has  already  been  quoted.  In 
that  letter  he  uses  the  following  language  which  discloses 
an  expectation  of  some  impending  blow: 

"  For  many  years  I  have  feared,  and  published  my  fears  that  sla 
very  must  go  out  in  blood.  My  speech  in  Congress  on  the  Nebraska 
Bill  was  strongly  marked  by  such  fears.  These  fears  have  grown 
into  belief.  So  debauched  are  the  white  people  by  slavery,  that  there 
is  not  virtue  enough  left  in  them  to  put  it  down.  .  .  .  The  feel 
ing  among  the  blacks  that  they  must  deliver  themselves,  gains 


SLAVERY.  241 

strength  with  fearful  rapidity.  .  .  .  No  wonder  is  it  that  in  this 
state  of  facts  which  I  have  sketched  (the  failure  of  the  Liberty  Party, 
the  Free  Soil  Party,  the  Republican  Party  to  do  anything  for  the 
slaves)  intelligent  black  men  in  the  States  and  Canada  should  see 
no  hope  for  their  race  in  the  practice  and  policy  of  white  men.  No 
wonder  they  are  brought  to  the  conclusion  that  no  resource  is  left 
to  them  but  in  God  and  insurrections.  For  insurrection  then  we 
may  look  any  year,  any  month,  any  day.  A  terrible  remedy  for  a 
terrible  wrong  !  But  come  it  must  unless  anticipated  by  repentance, 
and  the  putting  away  of  the  terrible  wrong. 

"  It  will  be  said  that  these  insurrections  will  be  failures — that 
they  will  be  put  down.  Yes,  but  nevertheless,  will  not  slavery  be 
put  down  by  them  ?  For  what  portions  are  there  of  the  South  that 
will  cling  to  slavery  after  two  or  three  considerable  insurrections 
shall  have  filled  the  whole  South  with  horror?  And  is  it  entirely 
certain  that  these  insurrections  will  be  put  down  promptly,  and  be 
fore  they  can  have  spread  far  ?  Will  telegraphs  and  railroads  be 
too  swift  for  even  the  swiftest  insurrections  ?  Remember  that  tel 
egraphs  and  railroads  can  be  rendered  useless  in  an  hour.  Remem 
ber  too,  that  many  who  would  be  glad  to  face  the  insurgents,  would 
be  busy  in  transporting  their  wives  and  daughters  to  places  where 
they  would  be  safe  from  that  worst  fate  which  husbands  and  fathers 
can  imagine  for  their  wives  and  daughters." 

(It  is  hard  to  believe  that  the  writer  of  these  passages 
had  not;  John  Brown's  general  project  in  mind.  There 
was  no  visible  sign  of  peril.  The  blacks,  North  and 
South,  were  to  all  appearances  quiet.  The  Secretary  of 
War  at  Washington,  Mr.  Floyd,  a  southern  man,  hating 
and  fearing  the  Abolitionists,  did  not  deign  to  take 
notice  of  a  menacing  letter,  putting  him  on  his  guard 
against  this  very  redoubtable  John  Brown.  The  surface 
of  society  was  not  stirred  by  an  uneasy  ripple.  No  one 
suspected  an  uprising.  But  Sanborn,  Stearns,  Higginson, 
Howe,  Gerrit  Smith,  and  others  who  had  been  long  in 
the  secret,  knew  that  a  scheme  was  on  foot  that  would 
convulse  the  country.  (The  Cassandra  spoke  from 

certainty. 

J  ii 


242  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

Moreover  that  Smith  was  in  communication  with 
Brown  till  close  upon  the  actual  attack  on  Harper's 
Ferry,  seems  probable  from  the  circumstance  of  his  send 
ing  money  to  him  directly  and  indirectly,  and  receiving 
advices  through  others,  particularly  through  Mr.  Sanborn. 
But  for  the  whole-handed  destruction  of  documents  im 
mediately  on  the  failure  of  the  project,  Mr.  Smith's 
participation  in  John  Brown's  general  plans  could  be 
made  to  appear  still  closer.  It  would  probably  be  re 
vealed  that  he  knew  as  much  as  anybody  did,  sympa 
thized  as  much  and  aided  as  much.  A  check  for  one 
hundred  dollars,  on  the  State  Bank  at  Albany,  found  in 
Brown's  possession  at  his  capture  and  sent  by  Smith  to 
Chambersburg  at  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Sanborn,  who 
transmitted  to  Peterboro  the  note  in  which  Brown  stated 
his  condition,  establishes  the  fact  that  his  presence  there 
was  known  to  Smith,  and  authorizes  the  inference  that  the 
object  of  his  presence  there  was  also  known.  The  inten 
tion  to  enter  the  Slave  States  at  Harper's  Ferry  was 
known  to  but  two  or  three  men.  Theodore  Parker  was 
perhaps  aware  of  it.  F.  B.  Sanborn  was.  That  Gerrit 
Smith  was  may  be  conjectured  from  his  knowledge  of 
Brown's  presence  at  Chambersburg,  and  from  the  re 
markable  language  above  quoted.  On  the  jth  of  June, 
1859,  Edwin  Morton  wrote  to  his  friend  Sanborn  from 
Mr.  Smith's  house  at  Peterboro,  "I  suppose  you  know 
the  place  where  this  matter  is  to  be  adjudicated  ;  H.  T. 
suggested  the  Fourth  of  July  as  a  good  time  to  raise  the 
Mill."  Is  it  probable  that  Morton,  living  in  Smith's 
house,  and  intimate  with  his  thoughts  on  these  subjects, 
knew  what  Smith  did  not?  This  is  possible  ;  for  in  a 
confidential  talk  at  Peterboro,  with  Mr.  Sanborn,  as  late 


SLA  VER  Y.  243 

as  July  1874,  he  disclaimed  all  recollection  of  the  special 
scope  and  drift  of  Brown's  plans ;  he  recalled  only  their 
general  outlines,  had  the  impression  that  the  invasion 
was  to  take  place  further  west  than  Virginia,  and  that 
it  contemplated  simply  the  establishment  of  a  grand 
southern  depot,  where  slaves  should  be  collected  for 
transportation  northward.  The  testimony  of  Frederick 
Douglass  is  to  the  same  effect. 

The  hue  and  cryf  made)  after  the  miscarriage  at  Har 
per's  Ferry  caused  the  destruction  of  valuable  private 
documents  relating  to  John  Brown  and  his  confederates. 
His  friends  and  coadjutors  were  compelled  to  protect 
themselves  by  covering  over  the  traces  of  their  opera 
tions.  To  escape  arrest  they  took  various  precautions. 
Dr.  Howe  went  to  Canada ;  so,  for  a  short  time  did  G. 
L.  Stearns.  F.  B.  Sanborn  was  arrested  at  his  house  in 
Concord,  but  released  by  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  backed 
by  his  fellow-townsmen,  who  assembled  in  formidable 
numbers  at  the  sound  of  the  alarm  bell  and  refused  to 
let  him  be  taken  away ;  he  too  had  previously  found 
refuge  in  Canada ;  so  had  Frederick  Douglass ;  Edwin 
Morton  went  to  England,  Theodore  Parker  was  seek 
ing  health  in  Europe.  Gerrit  Smith  staid  at  homeland 
was  a  conspicuous  object  of  attack) 

His  friends  were  more  fearful  on  his  account  than  he 
was  on  his  own.  His  house  was  guarded.  The  male 
occupants  of  it  carried  arms  by  day,  and  slept  with  wea 
pons  within  reach.  The  parcels  that  were  left  for  him, 
at  the  house,  were  carefully  opened  lest  they  might  con 
tain  infernal  machines.  "  The  New  York  Democratic 
Vigilance  Association,"  issued  a  ferocious  manifesto 
designed  to  bring  condign  punishment  on  him  in  cohnec- 


244  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

tion  with  others  supposed  to  be  implicated  in  a  plot  to 
rouse  the  slaves.  This  paper  he  did  not  see  at  the  time 
of  its  publication,  and  the  meditated  blow  did  not  fall. 
The  intended  victim  was  already  beyond  the  reach  of  his 
enemies. 

The  shock  occasioned  by  the  tidings  of  the  assault 
at  Harper's  Ferry  and  its  failure,  grief  for  the  disaster 
of  his  friend,  agony  in  contemplation  of  his  inevitable 
doom,  horror  at  the  uproar  and  carnage,  distress  at  the 
prospect  of  new  difficulties  in  the  way  of  the  cause  he 
had  so  deeply  at  heart,  were  too  much  for  a  nervous  sys 
tem  already  overstrained.  Dr.  John  P.  Gray,  the  distin 
guished  superintendent  of  the  asylum  of  Utica,  declares 
that  in  the  first  half  of  1859,  ^e  nac^  reached  the  stage  in 
the  progress  of  insanity  known  as  "  exaltation  of  mind." 
He  never  read,  studied  or  wrote  with  more  pleasure. 
He  never  had,  so  he  said  himself,  such  confidence  in  his 
powers.  He  boasted  that  he  could  do  more  than  at 
forty.  An  unnatural  brilliancy  marked  all  his  produc 
tions.  He  seemed  capable  of  living  without  food  or 
sleep.  He  was  exhausted,  and  did  not  know  it.  With 
feet  so  swollen  that  he  had  to  wear  moccasins,  he  per 
sisted  in  walking,  when  always  before  he  had  been  driven 
in  a  carriage.  In  1857  a  severe  attack  of  typhoid  fever 
had  taken  at  disadvantage  a  frame  worn  by  heavy  labors 
and  incessant  cares.  This  was  accompanied  by  acute 
neuralgic  pains  in  the  head.  The  fever  was  succeeded 
by  dropsy  ;  the  dropsy  by  dyspepsia.  In  the  year  1858, 
he  underwent  the  immense  fatigues  of  a  Gubernatorial 
campaign  in  which  he  spoke  fifty-three  times,  each  aver 
aging  two  hours  and  a  half.  This  ended,  he  threw  him 
self  into  his  religious  speculations,  studying,  writing, 


SLA  VER  Y.  245 

thinking,  taking  brutal  blows  from  people  he  loved, 
lampooned,  caricatured,  cursed,  jeered  at  ;  in  the  worst 
of  all  excitements,  a  theological  ferment.  Overworked, 
sleepless,  strung  to  the  point  of  breaking,  the  last  trouble 
of  his  noble  friend's  discomfiture  overthrew  him,  and 
after  vainly  struggling  for  several  days  with  the  malady 
he  went  down  under  a  troop  of  hallucinations.  He  was 
an  outcast ;  reduced  to  poverty ;  he  was  hunted  for  his 
life ;  those  were  in  pursuit  of  him  who  meant  to  carry 
him  about  the  country  in  a  cage  and  submit  him  to 
horrible  tortures.  He  was  gentle  as  usual,  but  melan 
choly.  Several  times  he  was  suspected  of  having  designs 
on  his  own  life.  Silent  and  brooding  he  sat  for  hours 
together.  At  length  on  the  7th  of  November,  he  was 
taken  to  the  asylum  for  the  insane,  at  Utica,  his  consent 
being  obtained  by  humoring  the  notion  that  he  was 
going  to  Virginia  to  vindicate  or  share  the  fate  of  John 
Brown.  (When  the  officials  came  to  remove  him  he 
opened  the  door  to  them,  said  gravely,  "  walk  in,  gen 
tlemen,"  and  quietly  surrendered  himself^ 

The  case  was  a  serious  one.  On  reaching  the  asylum, 
Dr.  Gray  remarked  that  he  had  not  come  a  moment  too 
soon  ;  that  a  delay  of  even  forty-eight  hours  might  have 
been  fatal.  The  physical  prostration  of  the  patient  was 
so  extreme  that  the  beating  of  the  pulse  was  hardly 
perceptible.  The  whole  physical  economy  was  de 
ranged.  The  fever,  the  dyspepsia,  the  sleeplessness  had 
done  their  work  slowly  but  thoroughly.  The  stress  of 
toil  and  care  and  sorrow  had  been  laid  on  the  most  sen 
sitive  part  of  the  organization,  and  it  could  bear  the  strain 
no  longer.  But  the  constitution  being  strong,  and  the 
disorder  physical,  a  judicious  use  of  anodynes  and  stimu- 


246  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

lants,  with  quiet,  and  nourishing  food,  in  a  few  weeks 
restored  sanity  though  not  strength.  Four  weeks  at  the 
asylum,  and  a  few  days  in  the  family  of  Dr.  Gray,  so  far 
recruited  the  system  that,  on  the  2gth  of  December,  he 
was  driven  back  to  his  home.  There,  still  excessively 
weak,  too  weak  to  read  the  daily  papers,  or  to  converse 
on  public  affairs,  he  was  watched  and  tended  till  vital 
power  returned.  The  first  production  of  his  pen  after 
his  restoration,  was  a  long  letter  written  May  I,  1860, 
to  his  dear  abolition  friend,  and  his  dire  theological  foe, 
William  Goodell,  giving  an  account  of  his  condition,  de 
tailing  the  causes  of  the  insanity,  moralizing  on  it,  and 
protesting  against  the  cruel  insinuations  which  had  been 
thrown  out  against  him  on  the  occurrence  of  it.  As  the 
letter  rehearses  what  in  substance  has  been  told  already, 
the  republication  may  be  dispensed  with. 

The  excitement  incident  to  this  calamity  was  so  terri 
ble  that  for  years  even  a  casual  reference  to  it  or  any 
thing  connected  with  it,  menaced  a  return  of  the  insanity. 
In  1872,  F.  B.  Sanborn  addressed  to  him  a  quiet  note 
asking  if  he  did  not  think  it  timely  to  collect  and  pub 
lish  whatever  was  known  of  John  Brown's  plans,  as  those 
who  knew  them  were,  one  after  another,  passing  away. 
To  this  note  Mrs.  Smith  replied,  deprecating  any  un 
necessary  use  of  names,  for  the  reason  that  excessive 
nervous  sensibility  made  dangerous  any  revival  of  her 
husband's  mental  excitement.  The  experiences  of  his 
insanity  were  so  closely  intertwined  (one)  with  another, 
that  reference  to  one  portion  of  them,  precipitated  upon 
him  the  whole. 

Mr.  Smith  himself,  wrote  to  Mr.  Sanborn,  October 
19,  1872,  to  the  same  effect : 


SLA  VER  Y.  247 

"  I  am  not  competent  to  advise  in  the  case.  When  the  Harper's 
Ferry  affair  occurred,  I  was  sick,  and  my  brain  somewhat  diseased. 
That  affair  excited  and  shocked  me,  and  a  few  weeks  after  I  was 
taken  to  a  lunatic  asylum.  From  that  day  to  this,  I  have  had  but 
a  hazy  view  of  dear  John  Brown's  great  work.  .  .  .  My  brain 
has  continued  to  the  present  time  to  be  sensitive  on  this  John  Brown 
matter,  and  every  now  and  then  I  get  little  or  no  sleep  in  conse 
quence  of  it.  It  was  so  when  I  read  the  articles  in  the  Atlantic 
you  refer  to,  and  now,  your  bare  proposition  to  write  of  this  matter 
has  given  me  another  sleepless  turn.  In  every  fresh  turn  I  fear  a 
recurrence  of  my  insanity." 

The  note  closes  with  the  significant}  request  that  the 
full  history  of  the  transaction  might  be  withheld  from  the 
public  until  after  his  death  ;  or  in  the  event  of  its  being 
published  earlier,  that  the  use  of  his  name  might  be  as 
sparing  as  possible. 

Thus,  deepest  and  uppermost  in  Gerrit  Smith's  mind 
was  the  sentiment  of  horror,  and  a  dread  of  returning 
insanity.  This  impelled  him  to  detach  himself  as  much 
as  he  could  from  personal  associations  with  the  tragedy 
at  Harper's  Ferry  and  its  author.  But  this  was  probably 
not  all.  In  point  of  fact,  the  John  Brown  tragedy  oc 
cupied  a  subordinate  place  in  his  distempered  mind.  In  \ 
forty-eight  hours  after  his  arrival  at  the  asylum,  it  had 
ceased  to  haunt  him,  and  had  given  place  to  tormentors 
of  another  character,  from  other  spheres.  On  his  re 
covery  a  new  set  of  considerations  came  in  to  turn  the 
instinctive  repugnance  into  a  purpose,  and  the  purpose 
into  a  policy.  He  was  an  enthusiast  and  at  the  same 
time  a  man  of  business ;  as  an  enthusiast  passionate  to  a 
degree  that  made  him  oblivious  of  practical  conditions ; 
as  a  man  of  business  practical  to  a  degree  that  made 
him  oblivious  of  his  enthusiasm.  Men  of  his  tempera 
ment  are  subject  to  reactions  that  may  properly  be 


248  LIFE    OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

termed  revulsions;  he  was  subject  to  these.  But  he 
was  subject,  besides,  to  oscillations  from  the  practical  to 
the  sentimental  side,  or  the  reverse  way,  by  reason  of 
the  powerful  bent  of  his  mind  in  opposite  directions. 
He  was  a  singular  combination  of  emotion  and  common 
sense,  of  feeling  and  shrewdness.  When  feeling  was  in 
the  ascendant  there  were  no  lengths  he  would  not  go. 
When  common  sense  and  shrewdness  prevailed,  the 
course  he  pursued  was  characterized  by  a  sagacity  that 
bordered  on  craft.  In  one  case  he  was  all  wings,  in  the 
other  he  was  all  eyes.  In  the  days  of  John  Brown's 
activity,  when  he  saw  him,  heard  him  talk,  was  under 
the  spell  of  his  moral  influence,  and  felt  his  anti-slavery 
enthusiam  thrill  in  every  fibre,  he  surrendered  uncon 
ditionally,  or  with  but  slight  and  spasmodic  protest,  to 
the  spirit  that  inflamed  the  man.  At  moments,  his 
judgment  hesitated,  even  recalcitrated,  but  interposed 
no  serious  obstacle.  Heart  and  soul  he  was  with  the 
old  hero.  There  is  nothing  to  show  that  he  at  the  last 
discouraged  or  tried  to  restrain  him  ;  he  was  even  pre 
pared  for  some  such  enterprise  as  the  one  actually  made 
at  Harper's  Ferry,  and  was  unwilling  that  it  should  be 
thwarted  by  Hugh  Forbes  or  Henry  Wilson  or  any  other 
marplot.  The  secret  was  kept  in  his  own  breast,  as  it 
should  have  been  ;  but  there  it  was  cherished  with  hope, 
till  hope  could  be  entertained  no  longer.  Had  John 
Brown  succeeded  in  gaining  a  foothold  in  Virginia,  in 
making  a  stand,  and  inaugurating  his  project,  it  is  prob 
able  that  his  ally  at  Peterboro  would  have  remained 
constant,  for  he  was  no  coward,  and  the  practical  demon 
stration  of  the  hero's  shrewdness  would  have  laid  to  rest 
the  cavillings  of  his  judgment.  But  the  enterprise  dis- 


,  SLA  VER  Y.  249 

astrously  failed.  The  first  step  was  not  planted.  There 
was  not  so  much  as  a  beginning  made.  On  emerging 
from  the  mental  obscuration  at  Utica,  the  whole  scheme 
or  tissue  of  schemes  had  vanished  and  become  visionary. 
Brown  was  in  his  grave ;  his  band  dispersed  ;  his  col 
leagues,  were  thrown  into  confusion  and  scattered.  At 
Washington  the  authorities  were  busy,  or  were  ceasing 
to  be  busy  at  treading  out  the  sparks.  It  was  a  dream, 
a  mass  of  recollections  tumultuous  and  indistinct. 

Then  cool  reflection  came  in.  The  practical  objections 
to  the  enterprise  which  had  flitted  across  his  mind  be 
fore,  settled  down  heavily  upon  it.  The  ill-judged  nature 
of  the  plan  in  its  details  and  in  its  general  scope  forced 
itself  upon  his  consideration,  and  made  him  wish  he  had 
never  been  privy  to  it.  The  wish  was  father  to  a 
thought,  the  thought  to  a  purpose.  His  old  horror  of 
blood,  his  old  disbelief  in  violence  as  a  means  of  redress 
ing  wrong,  resumed  its  sway  over  his  feelings.  The  man 
of  business  repelled  the  association  with  the  visionary 
and  tried  to  persuade  himself  that  he  had  taken  no  part 
in  operations  that  were  so  easily  disconcerted.  He  set 
himself  to  the  task  of  making  the  shadowy  recollections 
more  shadowy  still,  and  reducing  his  terms  of  alliance 
with  the  audacious  conspirator  to  sentiments  of  personal 
sympathy  and  admiration.  It  was  already  becoming 
the  fashion  among  conservatives  to  praise  Brown's  no 
bility  of  character;  and  among  radicals  it  was  becoming 
the  fashion  to  condemn  his  "  folly,"  thus  allowing  scope 
for  enthusiasm  on  the  one  hand,  and  for  criticism  on  the 
other.  Smith  instinctively  fell  into  this  mood,  gave  his 
heart  to  Brown,  but  kept  his  judgment  to  himself. 

Had  he  been  content  to  hold  this  attitude  privately, 
ii* 


LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

he  could  have  done  so  without  difficulty.  The  evidence 
of  his  complicity  was  all  but  totally  destroyed.  The  ac 
complices  were  safe  against  bearing  witness.  The  mem 
bers  of  his  family  knew  nothing.  But  he  could  not  be 
still.  He  could  not  consider  himself  a  private  man.  A 
wish  to  be  in  the  confidence  of  the  public,  a  passion  to 
rush  into  print,  to  interchange  thoughts  with  the  leaders 
of  opinion,  to  unbosom  himself  to  all  the  world,  was  one 
of  his  infirmities. 

Why  then  did  he  not  make  a  clean  breast  of  it  and 
frankly  confess  the  whole  state  of  his  mind  ?  Why  did 
he  not  own  the  infatuation  he  had  lain  under,  describing 
it  as  an  infatuation  he  had  outgrown,  acknowledging  at 
the  same  time  the  desire  of  his  heart  and  the  repentance 
of  his  understanding?  Because  at  this  point  the  mag 
nanimity  failed  him.  Here  came  in  the  love  of  pub 
lic  approbation,  which  was  a  strong  feature  in  his  char 
acter.  Along  with  his  self-respect  went  a  corresponding 
self-esteem.  Self-approval  was  indispensable  to  his 
happiness  ;  so  was  the  approval  of  his  friends  and  neigh 
bors.  In  a  clear  issue  between  right  and  wrong  his  con 
science  was  a  fortress  within  which  he  feared  no  foes. 
But  in  a  mixed  issue  between  wisdom  and  folly,  there 
was  no  such  judicial  umpire,  and  he  could  feel  keenly 
the  separation  from  the  controlling  opinion  of  the 
"  world."  Hence  a  desire  to  persuade  others  as  well  as 
himself  of  his  innocence  of  all  complicity  with  the  par 
ticular  schemes  of  John  Brown, — a  desire  that  became 
an  importunate  demand  as  it  was  cherished.  The  note, 
already  quoted,  to  Mr.  Sanborn,  of  Oct.  1872,  in  which 
he  begs  that  his  name  may  be  used  sparingly  in  any  ac 
count  that  may  be  given  of  Brown's  plans,  admits  the 


SLAVERY.  2$I 

existence  of  facts  that  he  was  anxious  to  have  concealed, 
and  his  determination  to  conceal  them,  if  he  could.  As 
is  so  often  the  case,  the  eagerness  of  his  denial  was  a 
confession  of  his  secret,  jj  ,  ^  ^  /  ^  (jfa 

The  first  demonstration  .was  made  against  the  mana 
gers  of  the  "  Democratic  Vigilance  Committee,"  whose 
proclamation  has  already  been  alluded  to.  It  was  a 
wild,  intemperate,  foolish  manifesto,  an  incoherent  jumble 
of  truth  and  falsehood,  put  forth  in  the  main  for  party- 
purposes,  and  of  no  significance  aside  from  them.  It 
was  dangerous  at  first,  no  doubt,  because  the  public 
mind  was  greatly  excited,  and  extreme  measures  might 
be  carried  into  effect  against  individuals  who  were  ob 
noxious  to  the  administration.  The  Democratic  party 
leaders  would  have  been  glad  to  conciliate  favor  by^  ap 
prehending  prominent  men,  like  Wendell  Phillips,  Dr. 
S.  G.  Howe  or  Gerrit  Smith,  and  shutting  them  up  in 
jail,  or  worse.  But  this  danger,  whatever  it  may  have 
been  at  first,  was  over  in  less  than  three  months.  In  six 
months  the  storm  had  so  far  passed  by  that  ordinary 
quiet  would  have  ensured  safety.  But  Mr.  Smith  could 
not  remain  quiet,  weak  as  he  was.  The  blunders  of  the 
democratic  manifesto  were  glaringfand  could  be  securely 
denied.J  jhe  truths  could  not  be  substantiated  by  docu 
ments  or  witnesses.  The  committee  were  open  to  as 
sault,  and  the  assault  was  made  boldly  and  with  force, 
by  Charles  D.  Miller,  Mr.  Smith's  son-in-law,-  who  knew 
nothing  of  the  extent  of  Mr.  Smith's  complicity! 

Peterboro,  February  13,  1860. 

WATTS  SHERMAN,  Esq. : 

Sir:  —My  father-in-law,  Mr.  Gerrit  Smith,  has  at  length  so  far 
waked  up  irom  the  eclipse  of  his  intellect  as  to  be  able  to  read  and 
to  hear  reading.  He  has  just  now  seen,  for  the  first  time,  the 


'.^^ 


LIFE   OF  G  ERR  IT  SMITH. 

"  Manifesto  of  the  New  York  Democratic  Vigilance  Association," 
published  last  October,  in  which  you  connect  his  name  with  a  certain 
"  Central  Association,"  of  bloody  and  horrible  purposes. 

As  Mr.  Smith  belongs  to  no  society,  has  always  opposed  secret 
societies,  had  never  before  heard  of  this  "  Central  Association,"  and 
condemns  all  shedding  of  human  blood,  save  by  government,  he 
necessarily  feels  himself  to  be  deeply  wronged  by  you  and  your  asso 
ciates.  He  holds  you  and  them  responsible,  for  calling  in  effect 
upon  the  people  both  of  the  north  and  south  to  detest  and  abhor 
him. 

Mr.  Smith  wishes  to  know  without  any  delay,  whether  you  and 
your  associates  will  persist  in  your  libel,  or  make  the  unqualified 
and  ample  retraction  which  the  case  calls  for. 
Yours  respectfully, 

CHAS.  D.  MILLER. 

Similar  letters  were  addressed  to  Royal  Phelps  and 
S.  L.  M.  Barlow,  calling  forth  diplomatic  replies,  which 
were  so  far  from  satisfactory  that  Messrs.  Sedgwick, 
Andrews  and  Kennedy  were  instructed  to  bring  suits 
against  those  three  gentlemen,  laying  the  damages  at 
fifty  thousand  dollars  in  each  case.  It  is  needless  to  say 
that  the  suits  were  never  brought  to  trial.  The  corre 
spondence  was  published  in  a  little  pamphlet,  which  put 
the  Vigilance  Committee  entirely  in  the  wrong,  and 
placed  Mr.  Smith  before  the  public  in  the  attitude  he 

desired. 

#>0  Qjji  £  m/  QJJL 

With  this,  he  might,  it  would  seem,; have  been  satis 
fied.  His  objections  had  been  well  taken,  his  antago 
nists  fairly  discomfited.  From  that  quarter  no  further 
danger  was  to  be  apprehended.  From  no  other  quarter 
was  there  a  menace.  But  the  newspapers  still  kept 
alive  the  memory  of  John  Brown  and  his  exploits  ;  the 
public  curiosity  was  hungry  for  more  information.  Mr. 
Smith  (was  unable  to  preserve  a  disci^e^  siteJhce,  and  af 
ter  eight  years  had  elapsed, — in  1867 — he;  put  forth  a 


SLAVERY.  253 


manifesto  (purporting  to  be;  a  full,  frank,  final  account  of 
his  connection  with  John 'Brown.  At  this  date  there 
was  no  danger  or  even  inconvenience  from  the  fullest 
acknowledgment  of  such  connection.  The  war  had  re 
sulted  triumphantly  for  the  north.  It  had  become  the 
fashion  for  people  to  call  themselves  abolitionists.  Old 
pro-slavery  Democrats  were  singing  "  Glory,  Hallelu 
jah  !  "  and  copiously  volunteering  the  information  that 
the  soul  of  John  Brown  was  "  marching  on."  The  hero 
would  have  received  an  ovation  in  Wall  Street.  Gerrit 
Smith  takes  this  time  to  disclaim  knowledge  of  his  plans. 
Here  is  the  Manifesto  : 

JOHN  BROWN. 

As  the  newspapers  are  speaking  of  my  relations  to  John  Brown 
and  of  his  purposes,  it  may  not  be  amiss  for  me  also  to  speak  of 
them. 

April  8,  1848,  Brown  came  to  my  house.  His  residence,  at  that 
time,  was  in  Springfield,  Massachusetts.  I  had  recently  distributed 
one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  acres  of  land  among  three  thou 
sand  colored  men.  This  land  was  in  a  number  of  counties  of  the 
State  of  New  York.  Some  of  the  grantees  had  already  removed  to 
their  parcels  in  Essex  and  Frankjin  counties,  where  lay  the  great 
body  of  it.  It  was  among  these  that  Brown  purposed  to  find  a  home 
for  himself  and  family ;  and  that  purpose  was  soon  realized.  In  this 
wise  began  my  acquaintance  with  that  remarkable  man — an  acquaint 
ance,  which  soon  ripened  into  a  warm  and  enduring  friendship. 
His  kindnesses  to  the  little  colored  colony  in  gifts  of  barrels  of  flour 
and  other  necessaries,  and,  above  all,  in  advice  and  guidance,  were 
numberless.  His  care  for  it  was  incessant.  He  was,  in  a  word,  its 
friend  and  father.  There  was  his  home  until  his  death  ;  and  there, 
on  one  of  the  farms  he  obtained  from  me,  sleeps  his  body. 

April  u,  1859,  on  his  way  from  Kansas  to  his  home,  he  visited 
Peterboro.  Here,  as  in  some  other  places  through  which  he  passed, 
he  held  a  public  meeting,  in  which  he  related  his  recent  success  in 
running  off  slaves  to  Canada,  and  asked  contributions  toward  con 
tinuing  his  good  work  on  a  much  larger  scale. 

John  Brown  talked  to  me — but  he  never  counselled  with  me — 


254  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

respecting  his  plans  for  freeing  slaves.  Then -too,  for  reasons  which 
he  mentioned  to  some  of  his  friends,  he  did  not  feel  as  free  to  tell 
me,  as  he  did  to  tell  others,  the  details  of  these  plans.  But  I  learned 
enough  of  them  to-believe  that,  in  addition  to  his  former  ways  of 
helping  off  slaves,  he  meant  to  go  into  a  mountain  or  mountains  of 
a  Slave  State,  and  invite  slaves  to  flee  to  him,  and  give  them  arms 
to  resist  attempts  at  their  recapture.  I  confess  that,  with  all  my 
leanings  to  "  non-resistance,"  I  did  not  object  to  this  use  of  arms. 
For  if  a  fugitive  slave  may  not  fight  for  his  liberty,  and  stand  for  his 
life,  who  may?  If  blood  is  shed  in  pursuit  of  him,  the  whole  sin  of 
it  is  on  the  pursuer.  But  that  Brown  intended  a  general  insurrec 
tion,  or  the  taking  of  any  life  except  his,  who  was  foolish  and  wicked 
enough  to  attempt  to  drag  back  into  the  pit  of  slavery  those  who 
had  escaped  from  it,  there  is  not  the  slightest  reason  to  believe.  Not 
the  least  evidence  of  it  is  there  either  in  his  words  or  deeds.  Brown 
had  a  great  horror  of  bloodshed.  He  said  in  my  hearing,  and  said 
it,  too,  from  the  depths  of  his  humane  and  religious  heart,  that  he 
would  never,  in  any  instance,  take  life,  save  in  the  strictest  self-de 
fence.  It  was  his  consolation  that,  in  delivering  slaves,  he  had 
never  hurt  the  person  of  any  one.  A  great  crime  against  the  sacred 
memory  of  John  Brown  is  the  charge,  that  he  embarked  in  any  other 
insurrection  (if  that  may  be  called  one)  than  helping  off  slaves  and 
protecting  them. 

Brown  left  Peterboro,  April  14,  1859;  and  never  returned  to  it. 
I  never  saw  him  again  ;  and  never  again  had  I  any  communication 
with  him,  direct  or  indirect,  touching  his  plans  or  movements.  His 
only  letter  to  me  after  that  time  was  a  few  lines  respecting  his  ina 
bility  to  obtain  the  payment  of  a  note  I  had  given  him.  This  note 
for  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  was  against  one  of  his  old  friends 
and  fellow-laborers  in  Kansas.  For  months  after  I  received  that 
letter,  I  was  at  a  loss  to  know  where  he  was.  When  he  left  Peter 
boro,  he  had  not  yet  decided  whether  to  go  into  an  Eastern  or  a 
Western  Slave  State. 

I  think  it  was  in  August,  that  I  learned,  in  some  indirect  way — 
perhaps  from  mere  rumor — that  Brown  was  in  Chambersburg.  In 
a  similar  way,  I  learned,  only  a  very  few  weeks,  perhaps  only  a  very 
few  days,  before  his  descent  upon  Harper's  Ferry,  that  Brown  had 
gone  into  a  Slave  State.  I  well  remember  looking  into  an  atlas  to 
see  what  mountain  or  mountains  he  had  probably  gone  to.  I  hoped 
that  the  next  news  would  be  the  welcome  one  of  a  stampede  of  slaves. 
But,  instead  of  that,  it  was  the  painful  news  of  the  Harper's  Ferry 
affair.  I  had  not  myself  the  slightest  knowledge  nor  intimation  of 


SLAVERY.  255 

Brown's  intended  invasion  of  Harper's  Ferry  : — and  when  I  saw  that 
George  L.  Stearns  of  Boston  (that  noble  man  who  was  so  intimate 
with  Brown)  testified  before  the  Senate  Committee,  that  he  too  knew 
nothing  of  that  intended  invasion,  I  questioned  whether  a  single  per 
son  in  all  the  North  knew  anything  of  it.  Thus,  also,  testified  that 
other  excellent  friend  of  Brown — Dr.  Howe  of  Boston.  Indeed,  not 
one  person  testified  before  the  Committee  that  he  knew  aught  of  the 
intended  invasion.  Nor  was  this  universal  ignorance  in  the  matter, 
in  the  least  degree  strange.  For  it  turns  out  that  it  was  only  a  very 
few  weeks  before  his  descent  upon  Harper's  Ferry  that  Brown  had 
decided  upon  it.  By  the  way,  Brown  himself,  as  he  was  reported, 
expressed  deep  regret  at  this  change  in  his  piarfs. 

Having  heard  that  some  persons  understand  that  Brown's  words, 
in  his  two-days'  interview  with  Mr.  Frederick  Douglass  at  Cham- 
bersburg,  serve  to  connect  me  with  his  invasion  of  Harper's  Ferry ; 
to  convict  him  of  a  plot  of  general  insurrection  ;  and  myself  of  the 
knowledge  of  it,  I  asked  Mr.  Douglass  to  write  me  respecting  that 
interview.  As  his  letter  goes  to  confirm  the  most  important  parts 
of  what  I  have  thus  far  written,  I  herewith  give  it  to  the  public : 

Rochester,  August  9,  1867. 

Hon.  GERRIT  SMITH  : 

My  Dear  Sir  —  I  wish  to  say  distinctly,  that  John  Brown  never 
declared  nor  intimated  to  me  that  he  was  about  to  embark  in  a 
grand  or  unqualified  insurrection  ;  and  that  the  only  insurrection  he 
proposed  was  the  escaping  of  slaves,  and  their  standing  for  their 
lives  against  any  who  should  pursue  them.  For  years  before,  Cap 
tain  Brown's  long-entertained  plan  was  to  go  to  the  mountains  in  the 
Slave  States,  and  invite  the  slaves  to  flee  there  and  stand  for  their 
freedom.  His  object  was  to  make  slave  property  unprofitable  by 
making  it  insecure.  He  told  me  he  had  given  to  you  a  general  idea 
of  this  plan — but  that  he  had  not  given  you  the  full  particulars,  lest 
you  might  turn  from  him  as  a  visionary  and  dangerous  man  Three 
or  four  weeks  previous  to  his  invasion  of  Harper's  Ferry,  Captain 
Brown  requested  me  to  have  an  interview  with  him  at  Chambers- 
burg,  Pennsylvania.  I  had  it;  and  in  that  interview  he  informed  me 
that  he  had  determined  upon  that  invasion,  instead  of  carrying  out 
his  old  plan  of  going  into  the  mountains.  He  did  not  tell  me  that 
you  knew  anything  of  this  new  plan.  I  do  not  suppose  that  any  of 
his  friends  at  the  North,  outside  of  his  own  family,  knew  of  it. 

Captain  Brown  never  told  me  that  you  knew  anything  of  his 
guns  or  other  weapons. 


256  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

You  are  at  full  liberty  to  make  use  of  this  statement  in  any  way 
you  may  deem  proper. 

As  ever,  yours  very  truly, 

FREDERICK  DOUGLASS. 

Much  has  been  said  of  Brown's  guns,  and  how  he  got  them.  I 
do  not  recollect  that  he  ever  spoke  to  me  of  them.  I  remember 
how  surprised  I  was  to  find,  after  the  Harper's  Ferry  affair,  that  he 
had  obtained  possession  of  the  Kansas  rifles.  As  to  the  pikes — I  had 
the  strong  impression  that  he  had  told  me,  several  years  before,  that 
he  purposed  getting  them  to  put  into  the  hands  of  the  honest  settlers 
in  Kansas.  I  was  surprised  but,  I  confess,  not  at  all  displeased, 
when  I  found,  among  the  revelations  of  Harper's  Ferry,  that  he 
meant  to  put  pikes  into  the  hands  of  fugitive  slaves,  with  which  to 
defend  themselves  against  pursuing  dogs,  and  pursuing  men.  Of 
course,  I  would  not  have  it  implied  from  what  I  have  here  said,  that 
I  supposed  John  Brown  would  enter  upon  his  work  unarmed.  I 
add  that  I  distinctly  remember  having  heard  (but  I  cannot  recall  in 
what  way)  that,  at  or  about  the  time  Brown  entered  the  land  of 
slaves,  boxes  of  disguised  arms  entered  with  him. 

But  it  is  said  that  I  gave  money  to  Brown  in  the  year  1859;  and 
it  is  inferred  that  I  gave  it  to  help  his  invasion  of  Harper's  Ferry  and 
to  help  him  produce  an  insurrection.  Unwarrantable  inference  !  It 
is  also  inferred  from  my  giving  him  money  in  1859,  that  I  gave  him 
much  money  in  that  year.  Another  unwarrantable  inference  !  I 
met  Brown  in  Syracuse  in  1855,  on  his  way  to  Kansas.  I  handed 
him  twenty  dollars  to  buy  bread  for  some  starving  ones  in  Kansas 
he  might  fall  in  with.  Every  year  from  that  to  his  last,  he  was  one 
of  the  distributors  of  my  surplus  means.  He  often  asked  me  for 
small  sums,  I  never  refused  him.  And  yet,  the  whole  amount  of 
what  I  gave  him,  from  first  to  last,  including  one  gift  of  two  hundred 
dollars,  was  hardly  a  thousand  dollars— an  amount  not  greater  than 
what  I  might  well  have  given  him  in  return  for  his  gifts  and  goodness 
to  my  colored  colonists.  Ever  after  he  began  his  brave  and  effective 
labors  in  Kansas,  I  told  him  to  use,  at  his  discretion,  what  he  re 
ceived  from  me.  I  must,  however,  admit  that  I  trusted  he  would 
use  it  chiefly  for  the  deliverance  of  the  oppressed. 

The  reader  is,  perhaps,  surprised  that  I  gave  by  the  many  thou 
sands  to  the  Kansas  and  other  Anti-Slavery  Associations,  and  yet, 
made  my  gifts  so  small  to  even  the  worthiest  individuals,  who  la 
bored  with  me  in  the  cause  of  these  associations.  The  explana- 


SLAVERY.  257 

tion  is  found  in  my  far  greater  reliance  on  the  collective  wisdom  in 
these  associations  than  in  the  wisdom  of  the  wisest  individual. 

To  return,  was  it  wrong  in  me  to  give  Brown  money  to  help  the 
oppressed  with  ?  If  so,  how  then  can  it  be  right  in  me  to  give  money 
to  Daniel  O'Connell,  to  Polish  Committees,  to  Italian  Republicans, 
to  the  Greeks  now,  and  also  more  than  forty  years  ago  ?  Was  it 
wrong  because  my  oppressed  countrymen  were  black  men  ?  But 
with  me  "  a  man's  a  man."  Was  it  wrong  because  there  was  law 
for  slavery?  I  knew  no  law  for  any  piracy— least  of  all  for  slavery, 
which  is  the  superlative  piracy.  Not  for  the  less  injurious  crime  of 
murder  would  I  recognize  a  law.  I  say  less  injurious — for  what 
right-minded  person  would  not  rather  his  child  were  murdered  than 
enslaved  ?  Law  is  a  sacred  thing — and  I,  therefore,  deny  that  the 
abomination  of  slavery  can  be  embodied  in  it.  Such,  by  the  way, 
would  be  the  denial  of  every  man,  who  should  be  so  unhappy  as  to 
fall  under  the  yoke  of  slavery — and,  therefore,  should  it  be  his  denial 
now. 

But  my  gifts  to  Brown  show  only  a  small  part  of  my  relations 
with  him.  For  many  years,  and  down  to  the  last  year  of  his  life,  he 
had  business  transactions  with  me.  He  borrowed  money  from  me. 
He  deposited  money  with  me.  He  bought  farms  from  me.  The 
title  to  eighty  acres  of  land,  which  he  bought  from  me  in  1858  and 
then  paid  for,  he  left  in  my  name,  when  he  bade  me  "  Farewell  !  " 
on  the  1 4th  of  April  1859;  and  in  my  name  it  remained  at  the  time 
of  his  death.  I  did  not  hold  the  land  subject  to  the  repayment  of 
the  sums  he  drew  from  me  in  1858  and  1859.  These  sums  were 
not  advances  or  loans,  but  gifts — and  gifts  too,  I  admit,  to  help  him 
deliver  his  and  my  enslaved  brethren. 

I  must  not  omit  to  say  that  my  money  dealings  and  land  dealings 
with  Brown  did  not  all  pass  through  my  own  hands.  More  of  them 
passed  through  the  hands  of  Mr.  Calkins,  who  has  been  my  clerk 
for  the  last  thirty  years  and  my  chief  clerk  for  the  last  twenty-five 
years.  He  knew  more  of  my  business  with  Brown  than  I  did.  I 
might  add  that  he  knew  more  of  Brown  himself  than  I  did,  as  he 
saw  much  of  him  not  only  in  rny  land  office,  but  also  at  Brown's 
residence,  where  I  never  saw  him. 

Now  that  I  have  done  speaking  of  my  relations  to  John  Brown 
and  of  his  purposes,  let  me  say  that  I  cast  no  blame  on  any  one  for 
supposing  that  I  had  a  full  knowledge  of  Brown's  plans  and  of  his 
changes  in  them.  That  I  had  is,  I  admit,  a  not  very  unreasonable 
inference  from  the  intimate  relations  both  of  business  and  friendship 
existing  between  us.  Nevertheless,  so  it  is,  that  I  had  but  a  partial 


LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

knowledge  of  these  plans  and  not  the  least  knowledge  of  his  ex 
changing  them  for  others.  Right  here,  too,  let  me  say  that  I  do  not 
feel  myself  at  all  dishonored  by  the  coupling  of  my  name  with  any 
of  Brown's  endeavors  for  the  liberation  of  the  slave.  Even  where 
truth  forbids  the  coupling,  regard  for  my  reputation  does  not  forbid 
it.  The  more  the  public  identifies  me  with  John  Brown,  the  more 
it  honors  me.  As  I  knew  Brown  so  well  and  loved  him  so  well,  it 
was  not  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  I,  too,  would  give  his  charac 
ter  to  the  public.  Thank  God  !  Brown  did  that  himself.  His  life, 
crowned  by  his  well-nigh  matchless  death,  shows  unmistakably  and 
fully,  what  was  his  character.  His  words,  all  the  way  from  his  cap 
ture  to  his  death,  sweeter  or  sublimer  than  which  there  have  been 
none  since  Jesus  walked  the  earth,  leave  no  room  for  mistake  or  ig 
norance  of  his  character.  And  here  let  me  say,  that  Jesus  was  in 
Brown's  heart,  the  Blessed  and  Loved  One.  Were  I  asked  to  say, 
in  the  fewest  and  plainest  words,  what  Brown  was,  my  answer 
would  be  that  he  was  a  religious  man.  He  had  ever  a  deep  sense 
of  the  claims  of  God  and  man  upon  him  and  his  whole  life  was  a 
prompt,  practical  recognition  of  them.  Brown  was  entirely  and  I 
might  perhaps  add,  stiffly  orthodox.  I  do  not  believe  that  he  doubted 
the  truth  of  one  line  ot  the  Bible.  Twice  he  attended  the  religious 
conversational  meeting,  which  we  hold  in  Peterboro,  and  each  time, 
he  criticised  remarks  of  mine,  which  he  regarded  as  theologically 
unsound.  His  ever  favorite  hymn  was  that  beginning  :  "  Blow  ye 
the  trumpet,  blow  !  " 

All  the  members  of  my  family  held  Brown  in  high  regard.  Be 
neath  that  stern  look  beat  one  of  the  kindest  hearts.  He  loved  chil 
dren  ;  and  they  loved  him.  My  little  granddaughter  was  often  in 
his  lap. 

A  more  scrupulously  just  man  in  matters  of  property  I  never 
knew.  In  1858  he  and  a  Mr.  Thompson,  who  was  his  neighbor  in 
Essex  County,  came  to  my  office.  He  had  purchased  Mr.  Thomp 
son's  interest  in  a  farm.  While  I  was  making  out  the  papers  which 
they  needed,  Brown  certainly  twice  and,  I  believe,  three  times,  asked 
Thompson  if  the  price  were  great  enough  : — telling  him  to  make  it 
greater  if  he  thought  proper.  It  occurred  to  me,  at  the  moment, 
tliat  Brovvn  went  beyond  the  Christian  precept,  and  cared  even  more 
for  his  neighbor's  rights  than  for  his  own.  Let  me  add  that  Thomp 
son  beautifully  declined  to  increase  the  price. 

It  is  quite  probable  that  John  Brovvn  will  be  the  most  admired 
person  in  American  history.  Washington  worked  well — but  it  was 
for  his  own  race — only  for  his  equals.  William  Lloyd  Garrison  had 


SLAVERY.  259 

lived  for  a  despised  and  outraged  race.  John  Brown  both  lived  and 
died  for  it :  and  few  names,  even  in  the  world's  history,  will  stand  as 
high  as  his. 

Men  begin  to  ask  why  a  monument  to  the  memory  of  John 
Brown  has  not  yet  been  built.  The  day  for  building  John  Brown's 
monument  has  not  yet  come.  It  will  be  built  where  stood  his  gal 
lows  ;  and  it  would  not  yet  be  welcome  there.  Its  base  will  be  broad 
and  its  shaft  will  pierce  the  skies.  But  the  appreciation  of  his  sub 
lime  character  is  not  yet  sufficiently  just  and  widespread,  to  call  for 
the  rearing  of  such  a  structure.  In  executing  this  work  of  love  and 
admiration,  Southern  hands  will  join  with  Northern  hands.  In  ren 
dering  this  tribute  to  the  grandest  man  of  the  age,  Southern  zeal 
will  not  fall  behind  Northern  zeal.  Indeed,  it  may  well  be  expected 
that  the  generous  and  ardent  South  will,  ere  the  cool  and  calculating 
North  is  ready  to  do  so,  confess  the  enormous  crime  of  the  nation 
— of  the  whole  nation — against  the  black  man.  Nay,  it  is  just  because 
the  North  is  not  yet  ready  to  confess  it,  that  there  is  not  yet  peace 
between  her  and  the  South.  That  confession  would  surely  bring 
the  peace.  For  it  would  involve  the  further  confession  of  the  com 
mon  responsibility  of  North  and  South  for  the  cause  of  the  war : 
and  it  is  the  sense  of  that  common  responsibility  which  would  impel 
the  North  to  afford  such  relief  to  the  war-impoverished  South  as 
would  win  her  heart,  and  result  in  a  true  and  enduring  peace. 

But  the  North  and  South  will  both  come  right.  They  will  both 
repent  of  having,  for  generations,  trodden  out  the  life  of  the  black 
man.  And  then  they  will  love  each  other.  And  then  God  will 
make  them  the  happiest  nation  in  all  the  earth.  And  then  to  have 
enjoyed  the  confidence  of  John  Brown,  as  did  Howe  and  Parker 
and  Stearns  and  Douglass  and  Sanborn  and  Morton  and  many 
others,  will  no  longer  be  counted  dishonest,  but,  on  the  contrary, 
high  honor.  Blessed  indeed  will  be  the  day  which  shall  witness 
these  things  !  Then  John  Brown's  day  will  have  come  : — and  then 
will  John  Brown's  monument  be  built ! 

GERRIT  SMITH. 
Peterboro,  August  15,  1867. 

Did  Gerrit  Smith  really  think  that  this  was  a  com 
plete  account  of  his  relations  with  John  Brown  ?  A 
statement  wherein  nothing  true  was  suppressed,  and 
nothing  untrue  suggested  ?  A  statement  that  would  be 
satisfactory  to  Edwin  Morton  and  F.  B.  Sanborn,  and 


260  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

Dr.  Howe  and  other  friends  of  the  martyr?  Possibly  he 
did  think  so,  though  his  letter  to  Mr.  Sanborn  in  1872, 
above  quoted,  is  inconsistent  with  the  belief  that  he  did. 
Possibly  he  did  think  so ;  but  if  he  did,  his  case  is  as 
curious  as  any  recorded  in  medical  books.  We  must 
believe  that  his  insanity  obliterated  a  certain  class  of 
impressions,  while  another  class  of  impressions,  on  the 
same  subject,  remained  perfectly  distinct,  dates  being 
remembered,  and  small  particulars  of  incident  recalled. 
We  must  believe  that  a  department  of  the  brain  was  par 
alyzed,  without  affecting  the  department  that  lay  adja 
cent  to  it,  and  in  closest  sympathy  with  it.  Nothing 
precisely  like  this  is  known  to  the  intelligent  general 
reader.  Dr.  Gray,  his  physician,  has  met  with  no  such 
case,  and  in  the  absence  of  well  established  proof,  such 
an  account  of  the  matter  will  not  be  accepted. 

Is  it  not  more  likely  that  Mr.  Smith  made  the  state 
ment  by  which  he  was  ready  finally  to  stand?  The 
statement  which  his  whole  mind,  on  full  reflection,  ac 
cepted  and  ratified  ?  Is  it  not  possible  that  he  chose 
to  set  aside  the  literal  details  of  history,  which  did 
violence  to  his  sober  judgment,  in  order  that  he  might 
present  a  case,  satisfactory  to  judgment  and  feeling 
alike?  To  the  candid,  clear,  direct  mind  this  looks  like 
subterfuge.  It  is  not  surprising  that  some  of  his  friends 
were  shocked  and  grieved,  that  some  were  indignant, 
that  some  were  of  opinion  that  the  insanity  was  not 
wholly  cured.  He  probably  remained  satisfied  with  an 
account  of  the  matter  that  was  consonant  with  all  his 
moods  of  feeling,  and  left  him  at  peace  with  himself. 
He  could  not  rest  contented  with  a  divided  mind,  and 
the  only  way  of  securing  an  undivided  mind  was  to  sup 
press  the  tormenting  side  which  his  judgment  presented. 


SLAVERY.  26l 

Two  years  before  the  Manifesto  was  issued, — in 
1865, — the  Chicago  "  Tribune  "  gave  editorial  currency 
to  a  popular  suspicion  that  Gerrit  Smith's  insanity  was 
feigned,  in  order,  as  was  vulgarly  surmised,  to  escape 
arrest.  The  insinuation  was  shocking  in  the  extreme 
to  Mr.  Smith,  who  remembered  only  too  keenly  the 
agony  of  that  experience.  It  implied  cowardice,  hy 
pocrisy,  meanness,  falsehood  of  the  basest  sort.  His 
remonstrance  was  instantaneous  and  vehement.  The 
editor  declined  to  make  an  apology  that  was  satis 
factory  to  Mr.  Smith,  and  a  suit  was  brought  for  libel. 
Horace  White,  the  responsible  editor,  accepted  the  chal 
lenge,  and  prepared  himself  by  gleaning  facts  in  relation 
to  Mr.  Smith's  connection  with  John  Brown,  which 
Smith  himself  had  been  anxious  to  conceal. 

In  March  1867,  at  Utica,  where  evidence  was  taken 
in  regard  to  his  insanity,  he  heard  from  witnesses  details 
which  were  wholly  new  to  him,  and  which  so  shocked 
and  excited  him  that  a  recurrence  of  the  dementia  was 
threatened.  Dr.  Gray  was  again  called  in.  The  gloom 
returned  ;  the  family  were  once  more  apprehensive  ;  he 
too,  feared  that  the  thought  of  self-murder  might  occur 
to  him,  and  told  his  grandson  to  remove  his  razors. 
Later  in  the  spring,  having  received  hints  of  what  the 
other  side  expected  to  prove,  he  made  a  western  tour, 
called  at  the  office  of  the  "  Tribune,"  had  an  interview 
with  the  editor  in  charge,  Mr.  White  being  absent, 
persuaded  him  of  the  groundlessness  and  iniquity  of 
the  charge  of  feigning  insanity,  and  obtained  a  satisfac 
tory  recantation.  The  editor  in  chief  on  his  return  to 
Chicago,  found  himself  outgeneraled,  and  expressed  his 
vexation  in  the  following  "  card,"  followed  the  next  day, 


262  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

July  28th,  by  an  editorial  article  to  the  effect  that  the 
charge  of  feigning  insanity,  even  if  made,  as  it  was  not, 
implied  no  moral  turpitude,  but  was  merely  a  state 
ment  of  historical  fact,  from  which  no  inference  in  regard 
to  character  could  be  drawn.  Here  is  the  "  card,"  from 
the  "  Tribune  "  of  July  2;th. 

During1  my  absence  from  home  I  learned  with  surprise  that  the 
fibel  suit  of  Gerrit  Smith  versus  the  "Tribune  Company"  and  others, 
had  been  settled  and  the  case  dismissed,  upon  the  publication  of  a 
quasi  retraction  of  the  article  upon  which  it  was  founded.  I  im 
mediately  telegraphed  my  earnest  protest  against  such  proceeding, 
but  the  settlement  being  an  accomplished  fact  there  was  nothing 
further  to  be  done.  It  is  proper  to  remark  that  Mr.  Dexter  and  Mr. 
Van  Annan,  the  two  attorneys  who  had  been  actively  employed  in 
the  case,  were  both  absent  from  the  city  at  the  time,  and  as  the 
plaintiff,  Mr.  Smith,  refused  to  postpone  the  negotiation  until  any  of 
the  absentees  could  be  heard  from,  it  was  consummated  upon  im 
perfect  information  and  in  a  summary  manner.  While  I  perceive 
that  my  associates  in  the  "  Tribune  Company  "  were  governed  by 
motives  both  honorable  and  praiseworthy  in  the  course  which  they 
pursued,  it  is  nevertheless  true  that  if  they  had  been  in  possession 
of  the  same  facts  as  myself  the  terms  of  settlement  would  have  been 
somewhat  different  from  those  which  were  agreed  upon. 

For  the  many  estimable  qualities  of  Mr.  Gerrit  Smith  I  have  a 
high  regard.  I  recall  his  benevolence  to  the  free  State  settlers  of 
Kansas,  and  his  long  but  somewhat  erratic  service  in  the  anti-slavery 
cause  with  admiration.  But  I  am  bound  to  say  that  the  ferocity 
with  which  Mr.  Smith,  during-  nearly  two  years,  pursued  his  action 
against  the  "  Tribune,"  founded  as  it  was  upon  a  technicality  too 
narrow  to  stand  alone,  but  requiring  to  be  bolstered  up  with  collat 
eral  matter,  had  caused  me  to  take  the  resolution  to  have  a  trial  of 
the  case  upon  the  merits,  for  the  double  purpose  of  vindicating  the 
truth  of  history  and  the  rights  ot  publishers. 

Whether  Mr.  Gerrit  Smith  feigned  insanity  ;  whether  the  "  Tri 
bune  "  charged  that  he  feigned  insanity ;  whether  such  a  charge,  if 
made,  would  be  actionable,  are  questions  of  no  public  importance. 
I  find,  however,  in  the  article  which  embodies  the  so-called  retrac 
tion,  the  following  statement  which  was  inserted  at  Mr.  Smith's 
instance : 


SLA  VER  Y.  263 

"While  he  (Mr.  Smith)  affirms  that  he  had  no  previous  knowl 
edge  or  intimation  of  John  Brown's  invasion  of  Harper's  Ferry,  he 
nevertheless  states  that  he  loved  John  Brown,  his  spirit  and  his  prin 
ciples,  and  that  he  now  warmly  cherishes  his  memory." 

Now  I  am  in  possession  of  information  which  enables  me  to 
affirm  that  Mr.  Gerrit  Smith  was  fully  advised  of  John  Brown's  pur 
pose  to  make  an  armed  invasion  or  raid  upon  Virginia  for  a  long 
time  prior  to  such  invasion  or  raid  ;  that  the  said  Gerrit  Smith  as 
sented  to  and  cooperated  in  such  invasion  or  raid,  with  advice, 
money  and  counsel ;  that  interviews  took  place  between  John  Brown 
and  Gerrit  Smith  at  the  residence  of  the  latter,  in  Peterboro,  New 
York,  in  the  summer  of  1859,  at  which  John  Brown  unfolded  to 
Gerrit  Smith  his  plan  so  far  as  it  was  then  matured,  informing  him 
particularly  that  Chambersburg,  Pennsylvania,  had  been  fixed  upon 
as  the  place  to  which  arms  should  be  first  sent ;  that  the  plan  con 
templated  not  merely  a  method  of  running  off  slaves,  but  a  military 
occupation  of  the  country  and  a  general  insurrection  of  slaves,  ac 
companied  by  violence  and  bloodshed,  and  that  Gerrit  Smith  knew 
it,  assented  to  it  and  furnished  money  to  carry  it  forward.  I  leave 
the  public  to  judge  how  far  this  state  of  facts  coincides  with  the 
statement  that  Gerrit  Smith  had  no  previous  knowledge  or  intima 
tion  of  John  Brown's  invasion  of  Harper's  Ferry.  I  leave  the  public 
to  judge  also  how  much  honor  he  does  to  the  memory  of  John 
Brown  under  the  circumstances. 

The  opportunity  of  vindicating  the  rights  of  publishers  in  the 
premises  is  no  longer  open  ;  but  that  of  establishing  an  important 
fact  in  history  remains.  I  have  no  other  purpose  in  recurring  to  the 
case  than  this,  and  shall  not  again  allude  to  it  unless  called  upon 
to  do  so.  HORACE  WHITE. 

Chicago,  July  26,  1867. 

This  statement,  brought  to  Mr.  Smith's  notice  by  a 
relative,  again  revived  the  mental  agitation.  He  wrote 
immediately,  August  15,  to  Mr.  White,  enclosing  a  copy 
of  the  manifesto  printed  above,  in  relation  to  his  con 
nection  with  John  Brown,  remonstrated  against  the  new 
accusation  of  unveracity,  and  earnestly  begged  him  to 
unsay  what  he  had  said,  or  to  disavow  the  dreadful  in 
sinuations  suggested  by  his  language.  To  this  touch 
ing  note  the  editor  returned  the  following  curt  reply: 


264  LIFE  OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

Chicago.  August  20,  1867. 

Hon.  GERRIT  SMITH  : 

Sir  —  Your  letter  of  the  I5th  instant,  with  enclosure  is  received. 

As  I  have  not  charged  you  with  falsehood,  I  do  not  see  why  I 
should  retract  such  a  charge.  I  stated  certain  facts  which  I  am  able 
to  prove.  The  force  and  bearing  of  those  facts  I  did  not  undertake 
to  define.  Your  printed  statement  does  not  take  issue  with  anything 
in  my  card.  In  its  general  tenor  it  corroborates  rather  than  con 
troverts  it.  It  would  be  extremely  foolish  for  me  to  say  that  you  did 
not  tell  a  falsehood,  when  I  never  alleged  that  you  did.  I  would  not 
thank  anybody  to  render  me  that  service. 

I  have  neither  charged  you  with  feigning  insanity,  nor  made  light 
of  your  mental  condition.  I  made  light  of  the  libel  suit,  but  noth 
ing  more. 

If  it  will  afford  you  any  relief  to  be  assured  that  I  shall  not  con 
trovert,  nor  combat  nor  notice  your  printed  statement,  I  cheerfully 
give  you  that  assurance.     I  was  a  friend  of  John  Brown  during  his 
life-time,  and  I  honor  his  memory  as  much  as  any  man. 
Very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

HORACE  WHITE. 

The  biographer  leaves  the  matter  here,  sensible  that 
his  version  of  it  is  open  to  dispute,  not  professing  to  be 
entirely  satisfied  with  it  himself,  but  certain  that  he  has 
spared  no  pains  to  get  at  the  facts  and  to  give  a  rational 
interpretation  of  them.  The  charge  of  moral  cowardice 
could  never  be  made  against  Gerrit  Smith.  He  could 
never  be  accused  of  deliberate,  persistent,  aimless  unvera- 
city.  But  he  may  have  been  capable  of  making  things 
wear  a  plausible  aspect,  and  of  thrusting  into  the  back 
ground,  with  some  violence,  the  things  he  did  not  choose 
should  stand  in  front.  How  far  the  cerebral  disturbance 
he  suffered  from  affected  his  memory  or  confused  the 
regular  operations  of  his  mind,  cannot  be  told.  Such  a 
man  is  entitled  to  the  benefit  of  every  reasonable  doubt. 
From  every  thing  like  moral  turpitude  he  must  be  ab 
solved.  His  conduct  in  this  singular  affair  affected  no- 


SLA  VER  Y.  265 

body  else  ;  he  compromised  none  ;  he  cast  reflections  on 
none  ;  the  memory  of  John  Brown  received  no  detriment 
at  his  hands.     No  kinsman,  ally,  or  friend  of  John  Brown 
can  complain  of  injustice,  or  of  inconsiderateness  for  his 
character  or  reputation.     No  interest  suffered,  no  cause 
was   hindered  by  what  he   said,  or  did   not  say.     The 
principles  he  had  always  cherished,  he  cherished  still ; 
the  models  he   had  always  kept  before  him,  were  still 
revered.     His  weakness, whatever  it  was,  did  not  touch 
the  essential  qualities  of  his  character.     It  was  a  consti 
tutional  inheritance  that  did  not  pervert  the  substantial 
greatness    of    the     man.     Whatever    the    motive    that 
prompted  him  to  conceal  his  complicity  with  the  martyr 
whose  blood  was  the  seed  of  the  Union,  it  was  not  dis 
graceful  to  his  character,  and  should  not  injure  his  fame. 
It  was  a  weakness,  but   it  was  not   a  baseness ;   a  fault, 
but  neither  a  crime,  nor  a  guilt.     That  he  was  faultless, 
it  would  be  foolish  to  affirm.     His  faults  were  conspicu 
ous,  and  even  showy.     He  was  not  always  candid  ;  he 
was  not  always  generous ;  he  was   not  always  fair.     He 
lived  too   consciously  in  the  world's  eye.     He  was  too 
large  a  figure  in  his  own  regard.     He  lacked  somewhat 
the  reserve  of  modesty.     His  fidelity  to   himself  occa 
sionally  betrayed  him  into  apparent  insincerity  to  others. 
But   he  was  not   false  to   others  ;  he  never  betrayed  a 
principle,  or  deserted  a  friend.     His  anti-slavery  record 
is  manly  and   honorable,  by  all  confession.     It  is  much 
to  say  that  in  so  long  and  public  a  career,  there  is  found 
but  one  spot  he  desired   to  conceal,  and  that  this  one 
he  covered,  not  in  order  to  escape  personal  danger  or 
public  contempt,  but  in  order  that   he  might  stand  well 
with  himself;  in  order  that  he  might  satisfy  the  claims 
10 


266  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

of  his  judgment,  as  well  as  the  demands  of  his 
To  the  appeal  of  history,  made  through  Mr.  Sanborn,  he, 
as  we  have  seen,  turned  a  deaf  ear.  Biography  was  to 
him  more  important  than  history ;  and  more  important 
than  the  biography  that  might  never  be  written,  was 
the  private  record  that  lay  daily  beneath  his  own  eye. 
This  was  an  infirmity.  Personal  feeling  should  never  be 
permitted  to  obscure  historical  truth.  It  is  the  biograr 
pher's  privilege  to  draw  aside  the  veil,  and  to  do  justice 
to  both.  6 


, 


-2- 

ref lection,,  closely  applied  for  years,  and  was 
not  to  "bo  dismissed  in  a  moment*  Thespian 
involved  violence  and  uproar,  though  in  inten 
tion  humane ,  and  in  spirit  pacific*   Social 
anarchy,  though  a  certain  consequence,  was  not 
a  deliberate  end*   On  the  contrary,  there  was 
no  anticipation  that  wild  insurrections  would 
ensue,  or  that  innocent  blood  would  be  shed* 
It  was  indeed  resolved  that  none  should  be  shed 
except  in  self  defense  against  such  as  intern- 
fered  by  force  to  defeat  a  philanthropic 
enterprise*   To  provoke  civil  7/ar,  to  incur 
the  guilt  of  high  treason,  to  defy  the  auth 
ority  or  assail  the  power  of  the  United  States 
never  entered  John  Brown's  mind;  on  the  contrary 
he  insisted  from  first  to  'last,  and  ernestly 
declared  in  the  provisions  of  $hts constitution, 
that  he  was  loyal  to  the  government,  and  had  its 
dignity  supremely  at  heart*   This  he  knew, 
and  his  friends  knew;  but  this  the  general  public 
knew  not.   The  general  public,  getting  all  its 
ideas  from  Harper's  Ferry,  imputed  to  him  a 
plot  that  he  never  entertained*   Unfortunately 
there  was  at  Harper f  s  Ferry  a  national  armory  , 
the  seizure  of  which.  ?ras  an  act  of  high  treason. 

There  was  fighting  and  bloodshed  on  the 
very  threshold  of  the  enterprise,  which  made  it 
look  desperate  and  ghastly;.,  for  Brown,  instead 
of  passing  swiftly  through  the  town*  allowed 
circumstances  to  detain  him,  so  that  his  real 
purpose  was  not  developed, and  a  false  idea  of 
his  scheme  was  encouraged.  He  was  charged  with 
a  design  to  foment  insurrection  and  instigate 
civil  war.  This  design  he  disavowed  for  feimself j 
and  his  friends  were  surely  justified  in  denying 
all  knowledge  of  it*   In  so  far  as  this  was 
the  chief  ,  ultimate  and  only  design  of  which 
^ohn  Brown  stood  accused,  it  was  no  departure 
from  the  truth  to  declare  that  one  knew  not h in? 


-3- 

*  his  pjbanSj    and   of  course  vras innocent  of 
.plicity  Trith  their   projector* 

Mr.    Snith,   it   appears,    shared  the   popu- 
*ir  belief;     he   imputed  to  Brovm  a  sudden 
lange   of  plan,  -which  was  a  departure   from 
10  defensive   one  he  had  himself  been  cogni- 
.ant   of.       The   bloody  collision  at  Harper's 
erry  brought   into  startly^elief"  issues 
'iat  had  not   been  contenpffetted. 

It    seems  that  through  dread  of  recurring 

,.n.3anity>  through  the  haziness  oaused  by 
sntal   hallucination,   or  thorough  failure  of 
eniory,  his  mind  recoiled   from  the   subject. 
43  efforts   at      exact   recollection  were 
ot   successful.          The  vivid  remembrance  of 
is   insanity,    inseparable   in  his  mind   from 
he  Harper's   Perry  tragedy,  was  exasperated 
y  an  ever-present  dread  of   its  return, 

\  nd  his   family  scrupulously  avoided  the 
ention  of   either* 


CHAPTER    VII. 

THE  WAR. 

ERRIT  SMITH  was  a  man  of  peace  and  a  "  peace 
man  ;"  but  he  was  not  a  non-resistant.  That  is, 
he  believed  in  the  divine  institution  of  government,  con 
sequently  in  the  divine  ministration  of  force.  But  be 
lieving  that  the  ministration  of  force  was  divine,  he  would 
take  the  exercise  of  it  out  of  profane  hands  and  commit 
it  to  the  best  hands.  The  public  executioner  should  be 
the  most  honored  citizen.  The  community's  "  armed 
police"  should  be  composed  of  the  most  orderly,  sober, 
grave,  just  and  humane  men.  The  army  should  repre 
sent  the  disciplined  virtue  of  the  country,  not  its  undis 
ciplined  vice.  On  all  occasions  he  improved  his  oppor 
tunity  to  divulge  this  idea.  When  an  infatuated  Chris 
tendom  was  glorifying  General  Havelock,  one  of  the 
heroes  of  the  Sepoy  rebellion,  Gerrit  Smith  wrote : 

"  I  am  free  to  admit  that  a  few  men  connected  with  the  army  and 
navy  have  amiable  and  beautiful  traits  of  character ;  that  a  few  of 
them  are  the  subjects  of  strong  religious  emotion.  Such  were  Col 
onel  Gardiner,  Captain  Vicars,  and  General  Havelock.  But  that 
even  Havelock,  'whose  praise  is  in  all  the  churches/  was  a  Christian, 
I  am  compelled  to  doubt.  I  will  not  doubt  that  he  deeply  loved  and 
devoutly  worshipped  his  own  ideal  of  Jesus  Christ,  that  his  ortho 
doxy  was  valiant  for  the  '  doctrine,'  that  he  was  full  of  zeal  for  his 
Baptist  church,  and  that  he  abounded  in  prayers  for  all  men.  But  in 
that  enlightened  and  better  day  when  the  true  religion  shall  be  seen 
to  be,  not  a  sentiment  to  weep  and  joy  over,  nor  a  doctrine  to  quarrel 


268  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

for,  but  a  principle  to  be  governed  by  in  all  our  relations,  and  a  life 
to  be  lived  out  everywhere  and  always,  not  the  fervors  which  are 
kindled  by  fancies  of  God,  but  that  acknowledgment  of  him  which 
is  made  practical,  and  is  proved  by  justice  to  man ;  then  the  Have- 
lock  type  of  piety,  which  is  so  bewitching  in  an  age  of  war  religion, 
will  be  reckoned  of  little  worth.  Havelock  was  an  unjust  man,  as 
is  every  one  who  identifies  himself  with  war,  and  holds  himself  to  do 
the  devilism  it  bids.  This  unreserved  submission  to  human  authority 
is  of  itself  sufficient  to  prove  that  the  warrior  cannot  be  a  just  man, 
and  that  war  and  Christianity  are  incompatible  with  each  other. 
Havelock  was  among  the  foremost  murderers  of  the  Affghans,  the 
poor  Affghans,  against  whom  the  British  waged  a  war  as  surpass 
ingly  cruel  as  it  was  utterly  causeless.  His  own  pen  describes  its 
revolting  horrors. 

"  Havelock  was  self-deceived.  His  religion  was  a  superstition  ; 
for  it  was  the  current  misrepresentation  of  Christianity.  When  he 
says  that  in  a  certain  battle  he  '  felt  that  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  was 
at  his  (my)  side,'  he  was  misled  by  a  fancy  scarcely  less  wild  and 
wicked  than  slave-holding  piety  ;  and  instead  of  sharing  his  delusion, 
we  are  deeply  to  pity  and  as  deeply  to  loathe  it.  That  Havelock 
was  more  an  ambitious  soldier  than  a  follower  of  Christ,  is  told  out 
of  his  own  heart  when  he  says  in  a  letter :  '  One  of  the  prayers,  oft 
repeated  throughout  my  life  since  my  school  days,  has  been  an 
swered,  and  I  have  lived  to  command  in  a  successful  action.'" 

A  similar  infatuation  in  regard  to  "Stonewall"  Jack 
son,  provoked  a  similar  protest : 

"I  am  amazed,"  he  writes  to  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  in  1863, 
"  that  you  make  so  much  of  Jackson's  theological  bundle,  and  of 
his  being  '  an  active  member  of  the  Presbyterian  church  of  which  he 
was  a  ruling  elder,'  These,  in  your  esteem,  suffice  to  carry  him 
straight  to  heaven.  I  had  supposed  that  your  strong  common  sense 
and  large  intelligence  had  long  ago  lifted  you  up  out  of  the  super 
stitious  faith  that  any  such  things  can  carry  any  man  to  heaven.  I 
had  taken  it  for  granted  that  you  believed  that  it  is  his  character 
however  induced— whether  by  himself,  or  by  Christ  or  otherwise — 
that  alone  qualifies  a  man  for  heaven  : — so  obvious  is  it  in  the  light  of 
reason  that  every  man  must  go  to  his  own  place,  and  that  what  shall 
be  his  place  must  be  determined  not  by  his  theology  but  by  his  char 
acter.  But  I  was  mistaken.  For  in  the  same  breath  in  which  you 
send  Jackson  to  heaven,  you  argue  out  for  him  a  thoroughly  base 


THE    WAR.  '  269 

and  abominable  character,  even,  to  use  your  own  strong  and  eloquent 
words,  '  a  comprehensive  and  fundamental  degradation  of  heart  and 
mind  and  soul.'  " 

The  civil  war  did  not  take  Gerrit  Smith  by  surprise. 
He  had  long  anticipated  and  predicted  that  slavery 
would  come  to  an  end  in  blood.  Being  in  itself  a  per 
petual  war  against  human  rights,  an  outlaw  from  hu 
manity,  a  foe  to  civilization,  the  offspring  of  malignity, 
hard-hearted,  violent,  savage,  no  other  doom  was  meet 
or  possible  for  it.  The  war  therefore  had  been  allowed 
for,  adopted  into  his  scheme  of  social  development  in 
the  United  States,  as  the  inevitable  issue  of  the  barbar 
ism  that  had  been  cherished.  This  was  his  theory  of 
the  war,  his  whole  theory.  It  was  a  coming  out  of  dev 
ils,  which  tore  and  convulsed  the  nation,  casting  it  into 
the  fire  and  water  to  destroy  it.  That  it  was  a  struggle 
between  the  principle  of  States'  Rights,  and  the  principle 
of  National  Union,  did  not  apparently  occur  to  him.  It 
was  a  rebellion  of  anarchy  against  order,  of  iniquity 
against  justice,  of  evil  against  good.  But  one  event  was 
to  be  looked  for,  the  extermination  of  slavery.  But  one 
course  was  open  to  the  north,  the  prosecution  of  the  war 
till  the  south  was  completely  subdued,  and  slavery  utterly 
abolished.  This  was  the  only  alternative  ;  but  this  must 
be  pursued  in  a  spirit,  resolute  and  unfaltering  indeed, 
but  neither  vindictive  nor  pitiless.  He  writes  to  Dr. 
Beckwith,  Secretary  of  the  American  Peace  Society : 

"  Let  us  thank  God  that  anything,  even  though  it  had  to  be  the 
insanity  of  the  whole  south,  has  brought  slavery  to  its  dying  hour. 
Never  more  will  the  American  Peace  Society  witness  the  need  of 
raising  armies  to  put  down  a  treasonable  onslaught  upon  our  gov 
ernment.  For  the  one  cause  of  so  formidable  an  onslaught  will  be 
gone  when  slavery  is  gone.  Besides,  when  slavery  is  gone  from  the 


2/O  LIFE  OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

whole  world,  the  whole  world  will  then  be  freed,  not  only  from  a 
source  of  war*,  but  from  the  most  cruel  and  horrid  form  of  war.  For 
slavery  is  war  as  well  as  the  source  of  war.  Thus  has  the  Peace 
Society  as  well  as  the  Abolition  Society,  much  to  hope  for  from  this 
grand  uprising  of  the  north.  For  while  the  whole  north  rejoices  in 
the  direct  and  immediate  object  of  the  uprising — the  maintenance 
of  government ;  and  while  the  abolitionists  do,  in  addition  to  this 
object,  cherish  the  further  one  of  the  abolition  of  slavery,  the  Peace 
men  are  happy  to  know  that  the  abolition  of  slavery  will  be  the  abo 
lition  of  one  form  of  war,  the  drying  up  of  one  source  of  war,  and 
of  one  source  of  occasions  for  raising  armies." 

At  a  war  meeting  in  Peterboro,  April  27,  1861,  he 
said: 

"  The  end  of  American  slavery  is  at  hand.  That  it  is  to  end  in 
blood  does  not  surprise  me.  For  fifteen  years  I  have  been  constantly 
predicting  that  it  would  be.  ...  The  first  gun  fired  at  Fort 
Sumter  announced  the  fact  that  the  last  fugitive  slave  had  been 
returned.  .  .  .  And  what  if,  when  Congress  shall  come  together 
in  this  extra  session,  the  slave  States  shall  all  have  ceased  from  their 
treason,  and  shall  all  ask  that  they  may  be  suffered  to  go  from  us. 
Shall  Congress  let  them  go  ?  Certainly.  But  only  on  the  condition 
that  those  States  shall  first  abolish  slavery.  Congress  has  clearly 
no  constitutional  right  to  let  them  go  on  any  conditions.  But  I  be 
lieve  that  the  people  would  approve  of  the  proceedings,  and  would 
be  ready  to  confirm  it  in  the  most  formal  and  sufficient  manner.  A 
few  weeks  ago  I  would  have  consented  to  let  the  slave  States  go 
without  requiring  the  abolition  of  slavery,  .  .  .  But  now,  since 
the  southern  tiger  has  smeared  himself  with  our  blood,  we  will  not, 
if  we  get  him  in  our  power,  let  him  go  until  we  have  drawn  his 
teeth  and  his  claws.  .  .  . 

"  A  word  in  respect  to  the  armed  men  who  go  south.  They 
should  go  more  in  sorrow  than  in  anger.  The  sad  necessity  should 
be  their  only  excuse  for  going.  They  must  still  love  the  south.  We 
must  all  still  love  her.  Conquer  her,  and  most  completely  too,  we 
must,  both  for  her  sake  and  our  own.  But  does  it  not  ill  become 
us  to  talk  of  punishing  her?  Slavery,  which  has  infatuated  her,  is 
the  crime  of  the  north  as  well  as  of  the  south.  As  her  chiefs  shall 
one  after  another,  fall  into  our  hands,  let  us  be  restrained  from  deal 
ing  revengefully,  and  moved  to  deal  tenderly  with  them,  by  our  re 
membrance  of  the  large  share  which  the  north  has  had  in  blinding 


THE    WAR.  271 

them.  The  conspiracy  of  northern  merchants  and  manufacturers, 
northern  publishers,  priests  and  politicians,  against  the  slave 
holders,  carried  on  under  the  guise  of  friendship,  has  been  mighty 
to  benumb  their  conscience,  and  darken  their  understanding  in 
regard  to  slavery." 

He  saw  no  cause  for  the  Rebellion,  on  the  part  of  the 
south  ;  none  in  the  tariff,  which  had  never  been  so  low  ; 
none  in  the  election  of  Lincoln,  who  was  constitutionally 
chosen  ;  none  in  the  northern  agitation  on  the  question 
of  slavery,  for  that  was  simply  an  exercise  of  the  right 
of  free  speech  which  the  south  indulged  in  as  freely  as 
the  north  ;  none  in  northern  legislation  against  slavery, 
of  which  there  was  little  enough;  none  in  the  intemper 
ance  of  the  abolitionists  or  the  invasion  of  John  Brown, 
for  the  abolitionists  were  a  despised  minority  of  radicals, 
and  John  Brown  was  repudiated  as  a  madman  by  the  all 
but  entire  north.  The  Rebellion  was  causeless,  save  for 
the  one  essential  cause,  the  irrepressible  violence  of 
slavery  which  would  have  everything  or  nothing. 

At  the  outset,  therefore,  Gerrit  Smith's  part  was  ap 
pointed.  He  accepted  it  without  hesitation  or  misgiv 
ing.  He  put  himself  unreservedly  on  the  side  of  the 
government,  spent  money,  made  speeches,  published  let 
ters  and  appeals,  all  to  one  end,  the  putting  down  of  the 
Rebellion.  Before  any  one  proposed  it,  before  the  gov 
ernment  was  prepared  for  it,  while  yet  the  idea  was  new 
and  startling,  Gerrit  Smith  offered  to  equip  a  colored 
regiment.  Instead  of  objecting  to  the  enlistment  of  his 
only  son,  Greene,  he  applauded  it,  and  insisted  that  he 
should  serve  without  the  soldier's  pay.  The  Rebellion 
tmust,  at  all  costs,  be  put  down.  Till  the  Rebellion  was 
put  down,  nothing  else  was  worth  thinking  of.  All  ex- 


2/2  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

penditure  of  power,  material,  intellectual,  political,  moral, 
that  did  not  promote  this  object,  was,  in  his  opinion, 
wasted.  He  discountenanced  all  abstract  speculations, 
all  general  discussions,  all  internal  dissensions,  that  every 
nerve  might  be  strung  to  the  utmost  tension  to  the  work 
of  crushing  the  South. 

When  the  draft  was  decreed,  in  1863,  his  only  objec 
tion  to  it  was  that  the  conditions  were  too  merciful. 
With  the  attempts  to  evade  it  he  had  no  patience : 

"  Oh,  how  base  must  they  have  become  who,  when  rebels  are  at 
the  throat  of  their  nation,  can  hie  themselves  to  the  constitution  to 
see  how  little  it  will  let  them  off  with  doing  against  those  rebels — 
how  little  with  doing  for  the  life  of  that  nation  !  Our  noble  consti 
tution  should  be  used  to  nourish  our  patriotism  ;  but  alas  it  is  per 
verted  to  kill  it !  ...  I  admit  the  duty  of  the  wealthy  to  avail 
themselves  of  this  commutation  clause  to  save,  here  and  there,  from 
going  to  the  war  the  man  to  whom  it  would  be  a  peculiar  hardship 
to  go.  I  also  admit  that  every  city  disposed  to  do  so,  can  very  prop 
erly  vote  the  three  hundred  dollars  to  every  drafted  man  who  serves, 
or  to  his  substitute.  I  care  not  how  much  the  cities  help  the  soldiers. 
The  more  the  better.  I  am  glad  that  Oswego  voted  ten  thousand 
dollars  two  years  ago  and  five  thousand  last  spring  to  the  families 
of  her  soldiers.  Let  her  vote  hereafter,  as  much  as  she  pleases  to 
the  soldiers  and  their  families.  I  will  pay  cheerfully  what  share  of 
the  tax  shall  fall  on  my  property  in  the  city ;  and  more  cheerfully 
would  I  take  part  in  voluntary  contributions.  ...  I  am  not 
sorry  that  so  many  rich  men  have  gone  to  the  war.  Nevertheless, 
let  as  many  rich  men  as  will,  remain  at  home  to  continue  to  give  em 
ployment  to  the  poor  in  manufactories  and  elsewhere,  and  to  main 
tain  a  business  and  a  prosperity  which  can  be  heavily  taxed  to  meet 
the  expenses  of  the  war.  Men  of  property  should  be  heavily  taxed 
to  this  end  ;  and  my  only  objection  to  the  income  tax  is  that  it  is  not 
more  than  half  large  enough.  It  should  be  six  and  ten,  instead  of 
three  and  five  per  cent.  .  .  .  The  love  of  country,  the  love  of 
country,  this  is  what  we  lack." 

As  the  presidential  election  of  1864  drew  nigh  he 
dreaded  and  deprecated  the  approaching  excitement 
and  distraction : 


THE    WAR.  273 

"  I  still  say,  as  through  the  past  winter  I  have  frequently  said, 
written  and  printed — that  the  presidential  question  should  not  have 
been  talked  of,  no,  nor  so  much  as  thought  of,  until  midsummer. 
The  first  of  September  is  quite  early  enough  to  make  the  nomina 
tion  ;  and  in  the  meantime,  undistracted  by  this  so  distracting  sub 
ject,  we  should  be  working  as  one  man  for  the  one  object  of  ending 
the  Rebellion — and  of  ending  it  before  reaching  the  perils  of  the 
presidential  election." 

The  sanguine  prediction  that  the  war  would  be  short 
was  not  fulfilled.  The  summer  ended,  the  autumn  came 
and  we  were  not  saved.  The  presidential  election  must 
be  met.  The  two  candidates  were  Lincoln  and  McClel- 
lan,  the  former  the  advocate  of  war,  the  latter  the  ad 
vocate  of  peace ;  the  former  the  choice  of  those  who 
held  the  North  to  be  in  the  right,  the  latter  the  choice 
of  those  who  held  the  North  to  be  in  the  wrong.  This, 
at  all  events,  was  Gerrit  Smith's  view  of  the  situation ; 
and  such  being  his  view,  he  threw  his  whole  weight  into 
the  scale  with  Lincoln,  as  the  surest  support  of  the  anti- 
slavery  party ;  a  fragile  support  it  sometimes  appeared, 
this  man  of  exasperating  moderation  and  provoking  pru 
dence,  whom  the  radicals  did  not  bless  when  alive  as 
much  as  they  did  when  he  was  dead ;  a  man  whom  fanat 
ics  would  have  put  out  of  the  way  as  too  cautious,  whom 
the  Gerrit  Smiths  complained  of  as  slow — still,  the  only 
champion  of  liberty  then  on  the  field.  His  reelection 
insured,  at  least  a  prosecution  of  the  war  till  the  South 
should  yield. 

"The  President  of  the  United  States  is  both  a  great  and  a  good 
man.  But  neither  greatness  nor  goodness  would  be  manifest  in 
consenting  to  a  peace,  which,  however  admirable  in  other  respects, 
faHed  nevertheless  to  secure  the  ballot  to  the  black  man,  and  left 
him  therefore,  at  the  mercy  of  his  enemy  and  ours — of  his  and  our 
demonized  enemy.  Happily,  among  the  highest  proofs  that  the 

12* 


2/4  LIFE  OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

President  is  both  great  and  good,  is  his  willingness  to  grow  and 
change.     Such  willingness  is  not  found  in  little  and  mean  men." 

On  the  22d  July,  1861,  the  House  of  Representatives 
adopted,  with  but  two  dissenting  voices,  Mr.  Crittenden's 
resolution  to  the  effect  that  "  this  war  is  waged  but  to 
defend  and  maintain  the  supremacy  of  the  constitution, 
and  to  preserve  the  union  with  all  the  dignity,  equality 
and  rights  of  the  several  States  unimpaired  ;  and  that,  as 
soon  as  those  objects  are  accomplished,  the  war  ought 
to  cease."  This  resolution  was,  in  Gerrit  Smith's  judg 
ment,  the  most  pernicious  of  all  the  mistakes  made  in 
the  conduct  of  the  war,  for  it  turned  the  thoughts  of 
earnest  patriots  away  from  the  real  issue,  and  it  justified 
the  luke-warm  in  their  reluctance  to  push  the  war  which 
the  radicals  were  using  as  an  instrument  for  the  abolition 
of  slavery.  Obstructions  of  this  kind  made  the  philan 
thropist  despond.  It  was  the  temporizing  at  the  North 
he  feared,  not  the  valor  at  the  South  ;  it  was  the  prudent 
President's  deference  to  the  Constitution  and  the  Su 
preme  Court,  not  the  rebels'  determination  to  set  up  an 
other  constitution,  that  boded  ill  for  the  country.  The 
President  he  had  faith  in,  as  an  honest,  earnest  man ; 
the  people  he  had  faith  in  as  sincerely  attached  to  their 
institutions ;  the  providential  destiny  of  the  nation  he 
had  faith  in,  for  he  could  not  believe  that  the  fine  ex 
periment  of  a  republic  would  fail.  But  the  President's 
concessions  to  established  traditions  and  popular  scruples 
played  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy  who  took  advantage 
of  his  policy  to  discredit  his  principle  ;  the  people  allowed 
themselves  to  be  duped  by  demagogues  who  cried  pa 
triotism  and  were  eager  for  spoils;  and  the  ways  of 
providence  were  so  mysterious  and  so  devious,  that  it 


THE    WAR.  275 

seemed  more  than  once  as  if  the  salvation  of  the  coun 
try  was  to  come,  if  it  came  at  all,  through  what,  to  human 
vision,  was  defeat  and  overthrow. 

The  excitement  consequent  on  the  seizure  of  Com 
missioners  Mason  and  Slidell  on  board  of  the  English 
steamer  "  Trent  "  was,  in  his  breast,  a  tumult  of  indigna 
tion  ;  against  England  for  her  arrogant  menace  of  war 
on  such  a  pretext ;  against  the  government  for  its  supine 
submission  to  England's  demand  that  the  commissioners 
be  surrendered,  and  the  act  of  their  seizure  be  disavowed. 

Why  is  it  that  the  English  press  threatens  us  with  war  ?  It  is 
for  compelling  the  English  ship  to  give  up  the  rebel  commissioners, 
so  it  says.  This  is  the  ostensible  reason.  But  would  not  England 
— she  who  is  so  famous  for  clinging  to  an  almost  entirely  unqualified 
and  unlimited  right  of  search — have  done  the  same  thing  in  like 
circumstances  ?  If  she  would  not,  then  she  would  not  have  been 
herself.  Had  a  part  of  her  home  counties  revolted  and  sent  a  couple 
of  their  rebels  to  America  for  help,  would  she  not  have  caught 
them  if  she  could  ?  And  in  whatever  circumstances  they  might 
have  been  found  ?  If  she  says  she  would  not,  there  is  not  on  all  the 
earth  one  "Jew  Apella"  so  credulous  as  to  believe  her.  If  she  con 
fesses  she  would,  then  is  she  self-convicted,  not  only  of  trampling  in 
her  boundless  dishonesty  on  the  great  and  never-to-be-violated  prin 
ciple  of  doing  as  we  would  be  done  by,  but  of  insulting  us  by  claim 
ing  that  we  ought  to  be  tame  and  base  enough  to  forbear  to  do  that 
which  her  self-respect  and  high  spirit  would  prompt  her  to  do.  Her 
naval  captains  have  taken  thousands  of  seamen  from  our  ships — 
these  captains  constituting  themselves  the  sole  accusers,  witnesses 
and  judges  in  the  cases.  It  was  chiefly  for  such  outrages  that  we 
declared  war  against  her  in  1812.  The  instance  of  the  San  Jacinto 
and  Trent  is  not  like  these.  In  this  instance  there  was  no  question, 
because  no  doubt,  of  personal  identity. 

It  is  not  possible  that  England  will  make  war  on  us  for  what  we 
did  to  the  Trent.  .  .  .  She  could  not  make  such  a  causeless  war 
upon  us  without  deeply  and  broadly  blotting  her  own  character  and 
the  character  of  modern  civilization. 

What  do  I  hold  that  England  should  do  in  this  case  ? 

I.  Reprimand  or  more  severely  punish  the  captain  of  the  Trent 


2/6  LIFE   OF  C ERR  IT  SMITH. 

for  his  very  gross  and  very  guilty  violation  of  our  rights  in  furnishing 
exceedingly  important  facilities  to  our  enemy.  This  our  government 
should  have  promptly  insisted  on,  and  not  have  suffered  England  to 
get  the  start  of  us  with  her  absurd  counter  claim.  .  .  . 

2.  The  next  thing  that  England  should  do  is  to  give  instructions, 
or  rather  repeat  those  in  the  Queen's  Proclamation,  that  no  more 
rebel  commissioners  be  received  into  her  vessels. 

3.  And  then  she  should  inform  us  whether,  in  the  case  of  a  ves 
sel  that  shall  hereafter  offend  in  this  wise,  she  would  have  us  take 
the  vessel  itself,  or  take  but  the  commissioners.    It  is  true  that  what 
ever  her  preference,  we  would  probably  insist  on  taking  the  vessel  in 
every  case : — for  it  is  not  probable  that  we  shall  again  expose  our 
selves  in  such  a  case  to  the  charge  of  taking  too  little.     .     .     . 

I  have  said  that  England  will  not  go  to  war  with  us  in  the  case 
of  the  Trent.  Nevertheless  I  am  not  without  fear  that  her  govern 
ment  will  be  driven  to  declare  war  against  us.  If  an  irresistible 
pressure  comes  upon  the  government,  it  will  come  from  those  por 
tions  of  the  people  who  long  for  the  cotton  and  free  trade  of  the 
South,  and  who  have  allowed  themselves  to  get  angry  with  the  North 
by  foolishly  misconstruing  our  high  tariff  (which  is  simply  a  war 
measure)  into  a  hostile  commercial  measure.  .  .  . 

Let  us  but  know  that  England,  to  whom  we  have  done  no  wrong, 
has  resolved  to  come  to  the  help  of  the  Pro-slavery  Rebellion,  and 
our  deep  indignation  against  her  combining  with  our  deeper  indigna 
tion  against  ourselves,  will  arm  us  with  the  spirit  and  the  power  to 
snap  the  "  cords  "  and  "  green  withes  "  and  "  new  ropes  "  with  which 
slavery  has  bound  us,  and  to  dash  to  the  dust  the  foul  idol  whose 
worship  has  so  demented  and  debased  us.  Yes,  let  us  hear  this 
month  that  England  has  declared  war  against  us,  and  this  month 
will  witness  our  Proclamation  of  Liberty  to  every  slave  in  our  land. 
.  .  Should  England  so  causelessly,  cruelly  and  meanly  force 
a  war  upon  us,  there  will  be  no  divisions  among  us  in  regard  to  that 
war  ; — nor  indeed  will  there  then  be  in  regard  to  the  other.  And  so 
deep  and  abiding  will  be  our  sense  of  her  boundless  injustice,  that 
there  will  never  be  any  among  us  to  welcome  propositions  of  peace 
with  England,  until  her  war  with  us  shall  have  reached  the  result  of 
our  subjugation  or  of  her  expulsion  from  every  part  of  the  continent 
of  North  America.  Moreover  we  shall  rejoice  to  hear  of  the  crush 
ing  of  her  power  everywhere — for  we  shall  feel  that  the  nation  which 
can  be  guilty  of  such  a  war  is  fit  to  govern  nowhere — in  the  Eastern 
no  more  than  in  the  Western  Hemisphere. 


THE    WAR.  277 

When  Gerrit  Smith  was  nominated  for  governor,  in 
1858,  Horace  Greeley  remarked  that  if  the  State  were 
New  Jerusalem  instead  of  New  York,  such  a  governor 
would  be  admirably  qualified.  His  method  of  adminis 
tration  was,  in  all  cases,  prescribed  by  the  Golden  Rule: 
an  excellent  rule  for  the  ideal  society  of  the  Millennium 
for  which  it  was  intended  ;  but  no  political  state  ever  con 
formed  to  it,  or  ever  will. 

The  story  of  Andersonville  did  not  surprise  him.  It 
was  precisely  what  might  have  been  expected.  Its  hor 
rors,  taken  at  their  worst,  were  but  the  natural  result  of 
causes  that  had  been  active  for  half  a  century.  The 
counter  statement  of  the  southerners,  could  he  have 
heard  it,  would  have  been  intrinsically  incredible  to  him, 
as  contradicting  the  natural  law  that  makes  every  effect 
follow  its  cause.  Before  he  could  accept  the  palliative 
representations  of  the  opposing  side,  he  must  recant  all 
he  had  said  about  the  character  of  slavery ;  he  must  re 
pudiate  the  convictions  of  half  a  century. 

As  long  as  Andersonville  shall  live  in  the  world's  memory,  (and 
can  its  sins  and  sorrows  ever  be  forgotten  ?)  so  long  shall  it  warn 
men  not  to  trample  upon  nor  forget  the  rights  of  their  fellow-men. 
By  the  way,  the  guilt  of  Andersonville  rests  not  alone  on  the  South. 
The  North  has  countenanced  and  justified  the  Southern  contempt 
and  denial  of  the  rights  of  the  black  man.  Nor  was  this  by  Demo 
crats  only.  The  Republican  Party,  though  not  so  extensively,  was 
also  involved  in  the  guilt.  The  doctrine  that  the  black  man  has  no 
rights,  is  still  virtually  subscribed  to,  not  only  by  the  mass  of  the 
Democrats,  but  by  multitudes  of  Republicans  also.  Many  a  Northern 
church  is  still  defiled  by  it.  The  religion  and  politics,  the  commerce 
and  social  usages  of  the  North  are  ail  to  be  held  as  having  a  part  in 
fashioning  the  policy  which  rules  at  Andersonville  ;  the  policy  of 
ignoring  the  rights  of  prisoners  of  war,  and  of  starving  and  murder 
ing  them.  Moreover,  many  a  prisoner  there,  if  his  sufferings  have 
sufficiently  clarified  his  vision  for  it,  is  able  to  see  that  he  is  himself 


2/8  LIFE   OF  G  ERR  IT  SMITH. 

chargeable  with  a  responsible  part  in  the  production  of  those  suffer 
ings  ; ay,  that  he  is  "  hoist  with  his  own  petard."  In  his  political 

or  ecclesiastical  party,  and  elsewhere  also,  he  has  contributed  to  up 
hold  the  southern  policy  of  excluding  the  black  man  from  all  rights ; 
and  consequently,  as  events  have  proved,  of  excluding  himself  too 
from  them. 

The  war  closed  with  the  assassination  of  Lincoln  ;  a 
fitting  symbol  of  the  spirit  that  began  it,  and  pursued  it 
till  manly  resistance  was  no  longer  possible.  The  power 
which  fired  the  first  cannon  at  Sumter,  discharged  the 
last  pistol  at  the  back  of  the  President.  During  this 
time  and  the  remainder  of  the  unexpired  term  wherein 
Andrew  Johnson  did  his  best  to  complete  Lincoln's  un 
finished  purpose  without  Lincoln's  temper,  Smith  grieved 
and  watched.  The  situation  caused  him  grave  concern, 
but  no  special  exigencies  stirred  his  spirit  till  the  motion 
to  impeach  the  President  called  him  back  once  more  to 
first  principles.  That  the  termination  of  active  hostili 
ties  did  not  leave  national  affairs  as  he  hoped  and  be 
lieved  it  would,  need  not  be  affirmed  ;  so  much  will  be 
understood.  That  the  "taking  off"  of  Lincoln  seemed 
untimely  and  deplorable,  may  be  surmised  ;  that  the  ad 
ministration  of  his  successor  failed  to  carry  out  the  real 
intentions  of  the  war-president  might  be  inferred  from 
the  circumstance  that  it  offended  every  class  of  the 
negro's  friends.  The  proposal  to  impeach  Johnson  met 
his  approval,  but  it  was  characteristic  of  him  to  come 
out  in  defence  of  those  who  voted  against  it,  with  upright 
intention.  The  one  thing  he  could  not  excuse  was 
partisan  injustice,  the  proscription  of  good  men  because 
they  withstood  the  pressure  of  public  opinion.  He  could 
concede  the  possession  of  virtue  to  those  who  differed 
widely  and  fundamentally  from  himself,  to  slaveholders, 


THE    WAR.  2/9 

to  rebels ;  it  was  easy  for  him  to  concede  virtue  to  true 
men  whose  hearts,  he  knew,  beat  in  sympathy  with  his 
own,  though  their  views  of  policy  differed.  Thus  he 
wrote  of  the  "  calumnious  and  contemptible  treatment  " 
of  men  like  Chief  Justice  Chase  and  senators  Trumbull 
and  Fessenden: 

The  flood  gates  of  defamation  were  opened  upon  Mr.  Fessenden 
and  Mr.  Trumbull  because  they  voted  for  the  acquittal  of  the  Pres 
ident.  I  wish  they  had  voted  for  his  conviction.  For,  although  I 
had  not,  previously,  taken  much  interest  in  the  proposition  to  im 
peach  him,  nevertheless,  after  reading  those  parts  of  his  last  Annual 
Message,  in  which  he  traduces  the  colored  citizens  of  our  country, 
I  was  quite  willing  to  have  him  removed  from  office.  Were  Victoria 
to  take  such  an  outrageous  liberty  with  the  Irish,  or  Scotch  or  Welsh, 
she  would  quickly  be  relieved  of  her  crown.  I  do  not  forget  that  in 
sulting  the  negro  is  an  American  usage.  But  not  with  impunity 
should  the  President  of  the  whole  American  people  insult  in  his 
official  capacity,  any  of  the  races  which  make  up  that  people  ; — least 
of  all  that  race  which  is,  already,  the  most  deeply  wronged.  This 
gross  violation  of  the  perfect  impartiality  which  should  ever  mark 
the  administration  of  the  President's  high  office — this  ineffable  mean 
ness  of  assailing  the  persecuted  and  weak,  whom  he  might  rather 
have  consoled  and  cheered,  should  not  have  been  overlooked,  but 
should  have  been  promptly  and  sternly  rebuked.  Nevertheless,  in 
the  light  of  their  life  long  uprightness,  I  have  not  the  least  reason  to 
doubt,  that  they  voted  honestly.  Nay,  in  the  light  of  their  eminent 
wisdom,  I  am  bound  to  pause  and  inquire  of  my  candid  judgment, 
whether  they  did  not  vote  wisely  as  well  as  honestly. 

The  clamor  against  the  Chief  Justice  was  not,  as  is  pretended, 
occasioned  by  his  conduct  in  the  impeachment  trial.  That  this  con 
duct  was  wise  and  impartial,  scarcely  one  intelligent  man  can  doubt. 
This  clamor  proceeded  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  his  nomination 
to  the  Presidency.  It  is  said  that  he  desires  to  be  President.  But.  a 
desire  for  this  high  office  is  not,  necessarily,  culpable.  Instead  of 
being  prompted  in  all  instances  by  selfishness,  it  may  in  some  in 
stances,  be  born  of  a  high  patriotism  and  a  disinterested  philan 
thropy.  For  one,  I  should  rejoice  to  see  the  Chief  Justice  in  the 
Presidency  ; — and  I  say  this  after  a-many  years  intimate  acquaintance 
with  him — after  much  personal  observation  of  the  working  of  his 


280  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

head  and  heart.  I,  however,  expect  to  vote  for  Grant  and  Colfax. 
I  like  them  both,  and  in  the  main  I  like  the  platform  on  which  they 
stand.  Nevertheless,  if,  contrary  to  my  expectations,  the  democrats 
shall  have  the  wisdom  to  nominate  the  Chief  Justice  and  along  with 
him  a  gentleman  of  similar  views  and  spirit — a  gentleman  honest 
both  towards  the  nation's  creditors  and  towards  the  negro— I  shall 
prefer  to  vote  for  the  democratic  candidate.  If  the  democrats,  at 
last,  sick  and  ashamed,  as  I  have  no  doubt  tens  of  thousands  of 
them  are,  of  ministering  to  the  mean  spirit  of  caste,  prating  for  a 
"white  man's  government,"  and  defying  the  sentiment  of  the  civil 
ized  world, — shall  give  up  their  nonsense  and  wickedness  and  nomi 
nate  for  office  such  men  as  republicans  have  been  eager  to  honor — 
how  wanting  in  magnanimity  and  in  devotion  to  truth,  and  how  en 
slaved  to  party  would  republicans  show  themselves  to  be,  were 
they  not  to  welcome  this  overture,  and  generously  respond  to  these 
concessions. 

The  clause  "  honest  towards  the  nation's  creditors," 
which  occurs  in  the  foregoing  passage,  in  connection 
with  the  qualities  requisite  in  a  candidate  for  the  office 
of  Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  clearly  refers  to 
the  doctrine  of  repudiation,  openly  avowed  in  certain 
parts  of  the  country,  particularly  in  the  western  States, 
and  generally  associated  with  the  policy  of  the  demo 
cratic  party.  It  will  be  remembered  that,  at  an  earlier 
period,  when  the  war  with  Mexico  was  in  question,  Gerrit 
Smith  countenanced  this  very  doctrine,  laid  it  down,  in 
fact,  as  a  fixed  rule  that  each  generation  should  pay  its 
own  debts,  and  should  contract  no  debts  it  could  not 
pay;  that  each  generation  had  a  right  to  enter,  unincum- 
bered,  on  the  career  appointed  to  it,  and  is  perfectly  jus 
tified  in  refusing  to  pay  bills  which  were  contracted 
without  its  consent  or  knowledge.  This  doctrine  how 
ever,  was  advanced  in  view  of  avoidable  expenses,  such 
as  might  be  incurred  by  an  administration  in  pursuance 
of  party  interests,  or  by  a  community  planning  a  project 


THE    WAR.  28l 

of  improvement  like  an  Erie  Canal  or  a  Pacific  Railroad, 
which  can  be  commenced  or  not,  or  can  be  left  at  any 
stage  uncompleted.  The  argument  that  as  future  gen 
erations  are  to  share  the  benefit  of  the  improvement, 
future  generations  may  reasonably  be  required  to  bear 
their  fair  proportion  of  its  cost,  is  met  by  the  considera 
tion  that  one  generation  cannot  foretell  whether  the 
improvement  will  be  advantageous  or  not,  and  even  if  it 
could,  is  unjustified  in  conferring  sumptuous  favors  which 
have  not  been  asked,  and  may  not  be  acceptable.  The 
next  generation  may,  from  some  unforeseen  reason,  be 
too  poor  to  pay  for  the  boon,  or  may  wish  its  money  for 
other  things,  or  may  be  compelled  to  consult  other  in 
terests  which  have  come  up  since  the  project  was  inau 
gurated.  In  the  case  of  a  wanton  war,  for  party  aggran 
dizement,  or  national  conquest,  it  is  quite  likely  that  no 
public  benefit  will  accrue  ;  the  money  may  be  thrown 
away  or  worse ;  the  next  generation  may  be  burdened 
not  merely  with  a  monstrous  debt,  but  with  a  monstrous 
evil,  which  it  would  be  cheaply  relieved  of  at  an  expense 
of  millions.  Where  it  is  a  matter  of  choice,  the  principle 
of  free  will  should  be  allowed  to  play  its  part,  and  each 
generation  be  permitted  to  decide  for  itself  what  it  will 
have,  and  when  it  will  have  it.  Under  this  rule,  people 
will  take  charge  of  their  own  interests  instead  of  com 
mitting  them  to  governments,  corporations  or  companies ; 
they  will  have  nothing  they  do  not  want,  and  will  con 
sider  well  before  beginning  what  they  may  be  unable  to 
finish.  The  Mexican  war  would  never  have  been  begun 
had  the  people  understood  in  advance  that  if  they  un 
dertook  it,  they  must  pay  every  dollar  of  its  cost ;  for 
in  that  case,  the  few  who  wanted  it  would  be  outnum- 


282  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

bered  by  the  thousands  who  did  not  want  it  at  all,  or 
who  wanted  it  to  the  amount  of  six-pence.  This  was 
the  sum  of  Gerrit  Smith's  doctrine  of  repudiation.  It 
was  a  doctrine  held  in  the  interest  of  justice,  as  a  check 
to  the  powers  of  government,  and  an  education  of  the 
people  in  carefulness  and  judgment.  There  was  no 
taint,  no  suspicion  of  dishonesty  in  it.  It  looked  to  the 
diminution  of  indebtedness,  not  to  the  disclaimer  of  it. 
It  bade  people  be  cautious  in  contracting  debts,  not 
slack  in  paying  them  when  once  contracted.  Its  aim  was 
not  repudiation,  but  economy.  The  school  to  which 
Mr.  Smith  belonged,  in  this  particular,  is  a  school  of 
thinkers  who  stand  for  honesty  pure  and  simple,  and  at 
the  same  time  for  personal  independence  of  the  absolute 
sort.  They  believe  in  the  duty  of  paying  what  is  due, 
but  only  what  is  due,  not  what  other  people  see  fit  to 
impose.  Have  what  you  want,  when  you  can  pay  for  it, 
— is  their  motto.  On  that  rule,  you  will  study  what  you 
really  do  want,  and  will  test  your  desires  by  the  sacrifice 
necessary  to  gratify  them.  They  bid  people  to  forego 
even  the  things  that  seem  indispensable,  rather  than  in 
cur  debt  for  them  which  future  ages  must  pay.  Schools, 
academies,  libraries,  museums,  institutes,  asylums,  hos 
pitals,  however  necessary  to  appearance,  must  wait,  or 
be  imperfect,  till  they  are  justified  by  present  desire  and 
wealth.  Canals  must  remain  in  project  on  the  engineer's 
table,  railroads  must  be  ideas  in  the  schemer's  brain 
until  they  are  actually  demanded  for  traffic.  Then,  as 
they  are  called  for  they  will  be  constructed. 

Such  a  doctrine  has  nothing  in  common  with  the 
doctrine  of  repudiation  which  was  in  vogue  immediately 
after  the  Civil  War.  For  the  war  was  no  luxury  but  an 


THE    WAR.  283 

unavoidable  necessity.  It  was  not  the  act  of  the  admin 
istration,  but  the  doom  of  the  people.  It  accomplished 
no  sectional  benefit,  but  saved  the  life  of  the  nation.  It 
was  precipitated  upon  a  single  generation,  but  was  the 
concern  of  all.  The  generation  that  had  it  forced  upon 
them,  and  that  spent  money  and  blood  to  carry  it  through 
was  not  the  generation  that  enjoyed  its  benefits.  This 
generation  must  pass  away  and  perhaps  yet  another  be 
fore  the  essential  gains  will  be  appreciable  ;  and  in  such 
a  case  the  expense  may  fairly  be  levied  on  succeeding 
ages.  According  to  one  theory,  the  people  of  the  South 
who  inaugurated  and  conducted  the  war,  should  be  com 
pelled  to  pay  for  it  by  wholesale  confiscation  of  estates ; 
but  this  solution  occurred  to  few,  and  was  never  proposed 
as  a  party  measure ;  the  thought  of  conquest  was  repu 
diated  from  the  beginning  ;  every  act  of  the  government 
denounced  it ;  the  Democratic  party  was  too  friendly  to 
the  South  to  oppress  it;  the  Republican  party  was  too 
tenacious  of  the  rights  of  revolution  and  the  principles 
of  humanity  to  recommend  arbitrary  and  stern  reprisals. 
According  to  another  theory,  the  industry  of  the  coun 
try,  prostrated  by  the  war,  required  exemption  from  the 
burden  of  unusual  taxation,  in  order  to  recover  itself, 
and  to  this  end,  the  burden  should  be  thrown  off  with 
out  hesitation  or  apology.  The  present  generation  had 
spent  enough  in  treasure  and  blood ;  the  flower  of  its 
youth  and  the  vigor  of  its  manhood  had  been  destroyed  ; 
the  fields  had  been  untilled ;  the  mineral  resources  were 
undeveloped  ;  and  the  means  for  maintaining,  or  even 
for  starting  enterprise  were  wanting.  A  few  years  of 
untaxed  labor  would  work  wonders  of  reparation  ;  a  few 
years  of  taxed  labor  would  retard  if  not  obstruct  hope- 


284  LIFE   OF  GEKRIT  SMITH. 

lessly  the  future  progress  of  the  country.  Therefore,  the 
policy  of  repudiation  found  favor,  especially  at  the  West, 
with  people  who  were  not  concerned  about  the  next 
generation,  but  were  absorbed  in  the  actual  situation ; 
they  wished,  themselves,  to  be  free.  The  proposal  that 
a  number  of  immensely  wealthy  men,  whom  the  war 
had  not  impoverished  but  enriched,  should  reduce  the 
war  debt,  met  with  no  response  from  the  only  gentlemen 
directly  interested  in  such  a  plan. 

The  doctrine  of  repudiation  on  the  principle  of  spar 
ing  those  that  should  come  after,  was  hardly  suggested, 
if  at  all.  Gerrit  Smith  was  ready  to  do  his  part  and 
more,  to  make  the  transmitted  burden  as  little  as  need 
be,  but  there  is  no  evidence  that  he  deemed  it  incum 
bent  on  the  generation  that  had  saved  the  nation  by  sub 
duing  the  slave  power,  to  bequeath,  along  with  the  un 
speakable  blessings  of  that  achievement,  a  plenary  dis 
pensation  from  the  necessity  of  discharging  their  portion 
of  the  expense.  Feeling  as  he  did  about  the  inestima 
ble  advantage  of  emancipation  to  all  coming  ages  of  men, 
on  this  continent  and  elsewhere  in  all  the  world,  fidelity 
to  his  ideas  rather  required  that  these  coming  ages 
should  pay  their  own  debt,  and  not  force  or  permit  the 
discharge  of  it  by  those  who  had  all  the  sorrow,  and 
could  expect  little  or  none  of  the  joy. 

"  As  a  general  thing,"  he  wrote  when  the  continuance  or  discon 
tinuance  of  the  validity  of  the  '  Legal  Tender  Act '  was  under  dis 
cussion,  "  They  who  in  the  late  war  fought  for  the  salvation  of  our 
country,  were  poor.  Included  in  this  salvation  were  the  estates  of 
our  rich  men.  It  would  be  an  expression  of  justice  and  gratitude  to 
ward  the  poor,  and  at  the  same  time  not  at  all  oppressive  to  the 
rich,  were  our  large  estates  made  to  pay,  for  a  few  years  to  come,  a 
greater  proportion  than  they  now  pay  of  the  annual  payment  on  our 


THE    WAR.  285 

war  debt.  Moreover  both  the  benevolence  and  patriotism  of  our 
rich  men  should  make  it  a  pleasure  to  them  to  pay  ten  per  cent  on 
incomes  exceeding-  ten  thousand  dollars,  and  twenty  per  cent  on  in 
comes  exceeding  twenty  thousand  dollars." 

THE  GOLDEN  RULE  AGAIN. — The  validity  of  the 
Legal  Tender  Act,  as  a  war  measure,  he  admitted  with 
out  debate.  The  question  of  its  constitutionality  he 
considered  to  be  impertinent,  because  the  war  which 
made  it  necessary,  was  unimpeachable  by  the  constitu 
tion.  The  continuance  of  the  powers  of  the  act  beyond 
the  period  actually  covered  by  the  war  was  demanded,  in 
his  judgment,  by  the  exigencies  of  business,  which  would 
suffer  seriously  by  a  sudden  return  to  specie  payments. 
He  applauded  the  existing  banking  system  as  the  best 
possible  in  the  existing  emergency.  He  advised  that 
no  limits  be  set  to  the  creation  of  new  banks,  and  none 
to  the  issues  of  banks,  new  or  old,  beyond  the  present 
restrictions.  But  he  believed  in  a  gradual  and  fast  re 
turn  to  specie  payments,  to  begin  in  1870  and  be  com 
pleted  in  1873,  the  redemption  being  accomplished  in 
four  successive  instalments.  So  sanguine  was  he  of  the 
energy  and  recuperative  power  of  the  country,  of  the 
firmness  of  the  national  credit,  and  the  rapidity  of  ac 
cumulations  under  an  honest  administration  of  govern 
ment,  that  up  to  the  date  of  "  the  infamous  fraud  of 
repudiation,"  he  foresaw  the  clearance  of  the  entire  debt 
in  twenty  or  thirty  years. 

In  the  darkest  days  of  the  war  he  confessed  but  one 
fear,  and  that  was  lest  the  people  should  not  be  permit 
ted  to  think  and  act  freely.  His  faith  in  the  people 
was  so  strong,  his  faith  in  human  nature,  in  the  funda 
mental  rectitude  of  the  "  masses,"  in  the  saving  virtue 


286  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

of  liberal  institutions  which  left  men  free  to  employ  all 
the  faculty  there  was  in  them  in  the  regulation  of  their 
public  and  private  concerns,  in  the  laws  of  equity,  and 
the  regenerating  influences  of  justice,  that  he  was  sure 
all  would  be  well,  if  the  politicians,  the  wire  pullers, 
managers,  jobbers,  demagogues,  could  be  induced  or 
compelled  to  retire  from  the  field,  and  let  affairs  regulate 
themselves.  Defeat  and  disaster  furnished  no  evidence 
that  the  northern  cause  was  bad  or  weak ;  they  merely 
confirmed  the  judgment  that  it  was  prevented  from  dis 
playing  its  strength  and  excellence.  There  was  enough 
of  valor,  patriotism,  generosity,  devotion ;  there  was 
enough  of  this  before  the  war  to  make  the  war  needless ; 
but  the  mercenary  ambition  of  politicians  was  interested 
that  it  should  not  assert  itself,  and  so,  to  the  end,  the 
redeeming  forces  were  restrained.  Again  and  again,  he 
was  driven  back  upon  the  resources  of  hope,  when  the 
resources  of  evidence  gave  out;  but  the  hope  was  brave 
and  bright  to  the  last. 

The  absorbing  interest  of  the  war  did  not  make  this 
man  unmindful  of  the  other  interests  that  lay  near  his 
heart.  The  cause  of  temperance  was  as  dear  as  ever. 
The  cause  of  intellectual  emancipation  from  the  bondage 
of  superstition  and  sectarianism  had  its  share  of  his  at 
tention.  The  controversy  with  Albert  Barnes  on  the 
dogmas  of  the  Christian  theology  began  in  1867  and  con 
tinued  till  August,  1868.  His  letter  to  John  Stuart  Mill 
on  the  subject  of  temperance  was  written  in  1869,  subse 
quent,  indeed,  to  the  close  of  the  war,  but  during  the 
heat  of  the  discussions  which  the  war  engendered.  The 
letter  to  Mill,  though  scarcely  more  than  a  recapitulation 
of  positions  sufficiently  indicated  already,  is  worth 


THE    WAR.  287 

printing,  as  exhibiting  the  points  of  agreement  and  the 
points  of  contrast  between  the  man  of  feeling  and  the 
man  of  thought,  the  warm-blooded  friend  of  human  na 
ture  and  the  clear-headed  student  of  human  opinions. 

State  of  New  York,  Peterboro,  February  3,  1869. 

JOHN  STUART  MILL,  England : 

Honored  and  Dear  Sir, —  A  gentleman  in  England,  who  is  ren 
dering  eminent  service  to  the  cause  of  temperance,  requests  me  to 
criticise  your  attitude  toward  that  cause.  So  profound  is  my  sense 
of  your  preeminent  wisdom — perhaps,  well-nigh  as  profound  as  was 
Buckle's  sense  of  it — that  I  could  not,  without  heavily  taxing  my 
diffidence,  presume  to  criticise  you  in  any  respect.  Nevertheless,  I 
venture  to  comply  with  the  request. 

The  gentleman  I  refer  to  would  have  government  shut  up  the 
dramshop.  You  would  have  government  leave  it  open.  How  shall 
so  wide  a  difference  on  a  subject  of  so  vast  importance  be  explained  ? 
Is  he  more  radical  in  his  theories  than  you  are?  Probably  not. 
Few  of  the  world's  great  writers  are  less  cramped  than  yourself  by 
the  spirit  of  conservatism.  Are  you  less  disposed  than  he  to  reduce 
radical  theories  to  practice?  Your  admirable  pleas  for  woman's 
voting  prove  that  you  do  not  shrink  from  the  boldest  practical  inno 
vations.  This  wide  difference  must  be  otherwise  accounted  for. 
Perhaps,  while  his  philanthropy  is  particularly  moved  by  intemper 
ance,  yours  is  by  some  other  vice  or  suffering.  Or,  perhaps,  it  is  to 
be  accounted  for,  in  part  or  entirely,  by  the  supposition  that  you  are 
especially  jealous  of  the  interference  of  society  with  the  rights  and 
practices  of  the  individual,  and  he,  of  the  interference  of  the  individual 
with  the  interests  and  welfare  of  society.  On  this  supposition  it  is 
quite  natural  that  one  of  you  should  argue  the  right  of  the  individual 
to  buy  or  sell  drams,  and  the  other  the  right  of  society  to  punish 
him  for  such  buying  or  selling. 

You  make  the  province  of  civil  government  much  narrower  than 
most  do.  I  (though  not  forgetting  that,  in  doing  so,  I  go  against 
the  judgment  of  many  a  man  far  wiser  and  better  than  myself)  make 
it  still  narrower.  For  instance,  while  you  would  have  government 
compel  the  idler  to  work,  I  would  let  him  remain  an  idler,  should 
moral  influences  prove  inadequate  to  change  him  :  and  while  you 
would  have  the  parent  compelled  to  educate  his  child,  I,  with  my 
dread  of  all  possibly  avoidable  compulsion,  would  look  to  his  en- 


288  LTFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

lightened  and  benevolent  neighbors  to  supply,  as  far  as  they  can, 
the  unnatural  parental  lack.  Again,  I  would  have  government  shut 
out  not  only  from  the  church  but  also  from  the  school.  It  should 
have  nothing  to  do  with  either.  Then,  too,  I  would  have  the  right 
to  buy  and  sell  so  free,  as  not  to  leave  a  custom-house  upon  the 
earth.  Nor  would  I  allow  government  to  concern  itself  with  the 
cause  of  temperance,  nor  with  any  other  moral  reform,  nor  with 
asylums  for  the  blind  or  the  deaf  mutes,  nor  with  any  other  benevo 
lent  institutions.  Why,  then,  you  will  ask  me,  am  I  in  favor  of  the 
enactment  of  sumptuary  laws  ?  I  am  not.  Families  should  be  left 
to  dress  as  they  please,  and  to  eat  and  drink  what  they  please.  There 
should  be  no  laws  to  regulate  living.  If,  in  saying  so,  I  open  the 
way  for  the  question— how  I  can  then  consistently  be  in  favor  ol 
government's  shutting  up  the  dramshops — my  reply  is  that  this  ques 
tion  will  be  answered  in  what  I  shall  say  of  the  province  of  govern 
ment.  I  have  said  what  is  not  its  province — in  other  words,  what  it 
should  not  do.  I  will  now  say  what  is  its  province — in  other  words, 
what  it  should  do.  It  should  protect  persons  and  property;  and  it 
should  attempt  nothing  more.  Its  one  work  is  to  hold  a  shield  over 
its  subjects  beneath  which  they  can,  unjostled  by  each  other,  and 
secure  from  foreign  aggressions,  pursue  each  his  own  chosen  calling, 
and  each  live  out  his  own  views  of  life.  The  protection  of  person 
and  property  being  its  sole  office,  government  is  to  protect  society 
not  only  from  the  criminal  but  from  the  insane,  be  it  liquor  or  dis 
ease  that  has  produced  the  insanity.  Hence,  while  we  are  to  look 
to  enlightened  and  benevolent  persons  for  asylums  for  the  sick  and 
poor,  we  are  to  regard  lunatic  asylums,  including  inebriate  asylums, 
as  a  part  of  the  machinery  of  government.  By  the  way,  the  alms- 
house  and  kindred  institutions  would  scarcely  be  needed  were  the 
dramshops  abolished.  Rare,  in  that  case,  would  be  the  person  who 
is  so  impoverished  or  debased,  as  to  cast  himself  upon  the  public 
charity ;  and  rare  too,  in  that  case,  would  be  the  person,  whose 
friends  are  so  impoverished  or  debased  as  to  allow  him  to  be  cast 
upon  it. 

If  I  have  rightly  defined  the  office  of  civil  government,  then, 
manifestly,  were  every  part  of  the  earth  to  be  blessed  with  a  true 
civil  government,  there  would  not  be  so  much  as  one  dramshop  left 
in  any  part  of  the  earth.  For  what  is  the  dramshop  but  the  great 
manufactory  of  incendiaries,  madmen  and  murderers  ?  Its  stagger 
ing  army  in  Great  Britain  counts  up  nearly  a  million  ;  in  America 
scarcely  less.  Because  of  the  dramshop  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
British  and  American  families  are  deep-sunk  in  misery,  stricken  with 


THE    WAR.  289 

terror,  and  not  a  very  small  proportion  of  them  besmeared  with 
blood.  Because  of  the  dramshop  night  is  so  often  made  hideous  in 
Britain  and  America  by  screams  of  "  murder,"  and  sunrise  made 
sorrowful  by  its  revelations  of  the  deeds  of  drunkenness.  And,  yet, 
even  John  Stuart  Mill  will  not  have  government  suppress  the  dram 
shop  !  Its  evils,  surpassing  the  sum  total  of  all  other  evils,  stare  him 
in  the  face — and,  yet,  he  allows  himself  to  be  swayed  by  the  micro 
scopic  view,  which  detects  in  such  suppression  a  particle  of  se-eming 
sumptuary  legislation  !  Pardon  me  for  being  reminded  by  your 
hypercritical  and  fastidious  objection  to  the  only  way  of  salvation  in 
this  life  and  death  case,  of  the  old  story  of  the  extreme  ceremonious- 
ness  of  the  gentleman,  who  made  his  never-having-been-introduced 
to  the  drowning  man  his  excuse  for  not  rescuing  him.  Even  if  there" 
is  in  this  proposed  suppression  of  the  dramshop  something  of  the 
form  or  semblance  of  sumptuary  legislation,  there  nevertheless  is 
not  the  least  of  the  spirit  of  it.  Moreover,  were  it  so  that,  incidental 
to  this  supposition,  there  must  be  violations  of  some  minor  rights 
and  inconsiderable  interests,  no  account  should  be  made  of  the  vio 
lations,  but  all  of  them  should  be  forgotten  in  the  joy  of  the  accom 
plished  object. 

I  admit  that  the  shutting  up  of  the  dramshops  might  put  some 
families  to  a  little  inconvenience,  if  not  also  to  a  slightly  additional 
expense,  in  obtaining  alcoholic  liquor.  I  admit,  too,  that,  while  it  is 
not  only  unnecessary  but  pernicious  to  persons  in  health,  there  is 
occasionally  a  bodily  ailment,  in  which,  provided  there  are  not  other 
remedial  agents  of  similar  effect  at  hand,  such  liquor  is  useful.  But 
to  make  trifles  like  these  excuses  for  keeping  open  the  flood-gates 
of  the  deadly  dramshop  argues  the  impossibility  of  finding  worthier 
excuses  for  continuing  the  murderous  wrong. 

I  do  not  forget  that,  although  you  would  leave  the  dramseller  un 
punished  for  keeping  a  soul-ancl-body  slaughter-house,  you  would 
have  his  customer  punished  for  the  violence  of  which  he  may  have 
been  guilty  in  his  drunkenness.  But  to  make  this  the  only  security 
against  such  violence  is  too  much  like  stipulating  with  the  men,  reck 
less  or  malignant  enough  to  bring  fire  into  the  powder-house,  that 
they  shall  not  be  punished  until  an  actual  explosion  has  come  of 
their  recklessness  or  malignity.  Surely,  surely,  London  is  entitled  to 
more  security  against  dramshop-violence  than  this  which  you  pro 
pose — yes,  to  immeasurably  more,  seeing  that,  probably,  never  a  day 
passes  without  some  of  her  dramshops  being  chargeable  with  one  or 
more  deaths.  The  deaths  may  be  from  suicide  or  murder — produced 
suddenly  or  gradually — nevertheless,  they  are  all  dramshop  deaths. 

13 


290  LIFE  OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

I  do  not  forget  the  frequent  cavil,  that,  even  were  the  dramshop 
shut  up,  drinking  and  drunkenness  would  not  thereby  be  diminished. 
Nevertheless  overwhelming  are  the  proofs,  that  the  drinking  and 
drunkenness  are  in  proportion  to  the  temptation— in  proportion  to 
the  frequency  and  attractiveness  of  the  places  for  gratifying  the  un 
happy  appetite.  Of  course,  no  one  is  less  chargeable  with  such  cavil 
than  yourself.  For  your  argument  against  shutting  up  the  dramshop 
is  the  solemn  one  that  human  rights  would  thereby  be  invaded— in 
vaded  by  lessening  the  facilities  for  tippling  and  drunkenness  !  I 
scarcely  need  add  that  the  cavillers  I  refer  to  entirely  ignore  your 
argument.  With  your  fear  of  the  increased  difficulty  of  getting  rum 
they  have  no  sympathy.  Their  confidence  that  rum  will  still  be 
within  as  easy  reach  as  ever  remains  undiminished. 

How  sad  it  is  that  even  the  wisest  and  best  of  men  do,  by  getting 
used  to  crimes — to  the  presence  of  criminal  usages — become  patient 
with  them  !  Possibly,  before  the  year  is  ended,  thousands  of  shops 
may  be  opened  in  London  for  the  sale  of  a  newly  discovered  gas. 
It  will  craze  no  small  part  of  their  frequenters.  Some  of  them  it  will 
turn  into  incendiaries  and  some  into  murderers.  Nevertheless,  so 
attractive  will  be  the  gas  that  scores  of  thousands  will  go  to  inhale 
it.  No  sooner,  however,  will  the  effect  of  it  be  well  ascertained  than 
petitions  for  shutting  up  these  gas-shops  will  pour  into  parliament. 
Among  the  most  influential  names  upon  them  will  be  your  own. 
The  gas-shops,  unsustained  by  the  plea  of  custom,  would  be  tried 
solely  by  their  character,  and  would,  therefore,  be  as  quickly  and  as 
thoroughly  condemned  as  would  be  the  dramshops,  were  they  also 
unsheltered  by  this  plea,  and  put  on  trial  for  their  character  only 
— their  emphatically  infernal  character. 

We  are  both  in  favor  of  having  the  people  own  government  in 
stead  of  being,  as  is  the  case  in  many  nations,  owned  by  it.  Hence, 
we  both  deprecate  government's  travelling  beyond  its  legitimate 
limits.  Could  it  be  kept  within  them,  it  would  be  a  blessing  above 
all  price.  Travelling  beyond  them,  it  becomes  an  evil,  not  only  from 
its  meddling  with  matters  which  do  not  belong  to  it,  but  from  its 
consequent  neglect  of  its  own  proper  duty.  Has  it  never  occurred  to 
you,  that  the  most  effective  way  to  recall  government  from  its  med 
dlings  is  to  hold  it  firmly  and  constantly  to  the  discharge  of  its  one 
duty  to  protect  person  and  property?  When  it  shall  have  been 
brought  to  see  that,  in  leaving  the  dramshop  to  pour  out  destruction 
and  death,  it  leaves  person  and  property  more  unprotected  than 
from  any  or  all  other  causes ;  and  when  it  shall,  consequently,  have 
been  brought  to  see  that  it  has  no  higher  duty  to  perform  than  to 


THE    WAR.  291 

shut  up  this  fountain  of  woe,  then  will  civil  government  be  in  a 
process  of  education  and  change  that  will  leave  it  no  taste  nor  time 
nor  talent  for  continuing  its  usurpations.  And  then,  with  hands 
filled  with  its  legitimate  work,  and  with  heart  filled  with  zeal  to  per 
form  it,  and  destitute  alike  of  affinity  and  ability  for  every  other  work, 
civil  government  will  realize  the  sublimest  expectations  of  the  most 
enlightened  and  philanthropic  statesmen.  In  that  day,  it  will  be 
held,  not  only  that  civil  government  has  the  right  to  shut  up  the 
dramshops,  but  that,  wherever  it  fails  to  exercise  this  right,  it  fails 
to  prove  itself  worthy  of  the  name  of  civil  government. 
With  the  highest  regard,  yours, 

GERRIT  SMITH. 

That  the  surrender  at  Appomattox,  though  nominally 
ending  the  war,  did  not  put  an  end  to  the  virulent 
causes  that  produced  the  war,  or  allay  the  patriot's  ap 
prehension  of  another  trouble,  is  apparent  in  the  follow 
ing  letter  to  Gen.  Lee. 

Peterboro,  September  25th,  1868. 

GENERAL  R.  E.  LEE,  Virginia  : 

I  honored  General  Rosecrans  for  his  patriotism  and  bravery  in 
the  war.  Nevertheless,  his  letter  to  you  is  so  exceedingly  offensive  on 
account  of  the  servile,  flattering,  false  spirit  with  which  it  overflows, 
that  I  found  it  quite  easy  to  toss  it  aside  and  forget  it.  I  would  forget 
him  also.  For  when  a  man  has  done  good  service  to  his  country,  it 
is  painful  to  remember  him,  if  to  remember  him  is  but  to  loathe  his 
apostacy.  But  your  reply  to  General  Rosecrans  is  what  I  cannot 
forget,  nor  cease  to  grieve  over.  I  have  thought  of  it,  perhaps,  every 
day  since  I  read  it.  Very  sorry  arn  I  that  you  wrote  it.  Very  sorry 
am  I  that  you  did  not  continue  your  dignified,  beautiful  and  exem 
plary  silence  in  regard  to  the  political  affairs  of  the  country. 

And  is  it  so,  that  General  Lee,  with  all  his  wisdom,  has  nothing 
better  to  offer  us,  as  the  result  of  this  slavery-begotten  and  slavery- 
overthrowing  war,  than  the  re-instatement  of  slavery? — nothing 
better  to  offer  us,  in  return  for  all  this  expenditure  of  treasure  and 
blood,  than  the  restoration  of  the  horrid  cause  of  this  horrid  war? 
Your  letter  shows  that  it  is  even  so.  Far  am  I  from  calling  in  ques 
tion  your  sincerity,  when  you  disclaim  all  expectation  of  the  re-es 
tablishment  of  chattel-slavery.  But  to  argue  to  you  that  slavery, 
virtual,  if  not  literal,  must  ever  attend  the  disfranchisement  of  a  race, 


LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

and  especially  when  it  is  the  only  disfranchised  race,  would  be  a 
superfluity  insulting  to  your  excellent  understanding.  Slavery  at 
tended  the  disfranchisement  of  your  blacks  before  the  war.  It  also 
attended  it,  after  the  war.  Under  the  governments,  which  President 
Johnson  set  up  at  the  south — and  which,  by  the  way,  he  had  no 
more  right  to  set  up  than  you  or  I  had — under,  in  other  words,  his 
policy  of  confining  all  the  political  power  to  the  whites — a  policy 
immediately  espoused  by  the  whole  democratic  party — a  type  of 
slavery,  more  cruel  and  crushing  than  the  former  one,  was  at  once 
entered  upon.  As  a  matter  of  course,  if  this  party  shall  succeed  at 
the  coming  election,  and  shall  be  able  to  execute  its  General  Blair 
threat  of  bloody  disfranchisement,  and  of  bloody  restoration  of  the 
white  man's  government,  your  blacks  will,  because,  amongst  other 
things,  of  the  deep  and  undying  enmity  kindled  against  them  by  their 
having  taken  up  arms  against  their  oppressors,  be  more  grievously 
oppressed  than  they  were  when  in  chattel-slavery. 

But  why  should  it  be  doubted  that  you  and  such  as  signed  your 
letter,  would,  if  circumstances  invited  it,  be  in  favor  of  reviving 
chattel-slavery  ?  Your  letter  virtually  denies  that  to  enslave  your 
fellow-men  is  to  "  oppress  them."  Nay  it  goes  so  far  as,  in  effect, 
to  declare  that  to  doom  them  and  their  endless  posterity  to  stripes 
and  chains  and  unrequited  toil  and  rayless  ignorance  and  the  loss 
of  every  right,  is  "  to  look  upon  them  with  kindness."  If  you  gen 
tlemen  do  not  see  that  to  enslave  men  in  the  past  was  to  "  oppress 
them,"  and  to  lack  "kindness  "  toward  them,  why  should  it  be  sup 
posed  that  you  would  sec  oppression  or  unkindness  in  their  future 
enslavement  ?  If  you  justify,  instead  of  condemning  yourselves  for 
having  heretofore  crushed  the  negro,  what  is  there  in  your  hearts 
to  hold  you  back  from  crushing  him  hereafter  ?  If  slavery  is  pleas 
ant  to  look  back  upon,  why  should  it  not,  also,  be  pleasant  for  you 
to  look  forward  to  ? 

Deeply  have  I  deplored  the  short-comings  of  the  north  toward 
the  south.  When  the  south,  because  less  than  the  north,  not  in 
bravery,  but  in  numbers  and  resources,  had  to  surrender,  the  north 
should  have  recognized  and  confessed  herself  to  be  the  fellow-sinner 
of  the  south — to  be  as  guiltily  responsible  for  its  cause.  The  north 
should  not  have  found  it  in  her  heart  to  charge  any  one  with 
treason  for  his  part  in  the  war.  She  should  have  felt  herself  to  be 
morally  incompetent  to  put  any  of  the  southern  leaders,  even  yourself 
or  Jefferson  Davis,  on  trial  for  treason  ;  and  she  should  have  been 
eager  to  expend,  if  need  be,  a  hundred  millions  from  the  national 
treasury  in  relieving  the  most  urgent  wants  of  her  war-impoverished 


THE    WAR.  293 

sister.  But,  General  Lee  !  the  lack  of  the  north,  in  these  and  other 
respects,  does  not  justify  the  failure  of  the  south  to  repent  of 
slavery; — least  of  all,  does  it  justify  the  union  of  her  white  men 
with  the  democratic  party  for  the  purpose  of-  reestablishing  slavery. 
It  is  true  that  the  republican  party  did  not  do  its  whole  duty  toward 
the  south.  It  would,  however,  ere  this  time,  have  relieved  your  dis 
franchised  classes,  and  produced  peace  between  the  north  and  south, 
and  restored  the  credit  of  the  nation,  and  reduced  to  four  or  less 
than  four  per  cent  the  interest  she  pays,  had  it  not  been  for  the  hin- 
derance  it  encountered  in  a  hostile  President  and  the  encouragement 
to  embarrass  and  resist  it,  afforded  by  those  hinderances.  It  was 
this  encouragement  which  stirred  up  the  whites  of  the  south  to  their 
unreasonable  demands.  Did  ever  any  other  conquered  people  take 
so  insulting  an  attitude  toward  their  conqueror,  as  did  this  toward 
the  mildest  of  conquerors  ?  But  I  would  not  judge  my  southern 
brethren  too  harshly  at  this  point.  They  were,  at  first,  entirely 
willing  to  "  accept  the  situation."  But  they  were  tempted  by  the 
northern  democrats  to  cast  off  a  becoming  modesty  and  decency, 
and  to  be  guilty  of  bad  faith  and  a  defiant  spirit. 

How  sad  that  the  white  men  of  the  south  should  look  upon  the 
republican  party  as  the  enemy  of  the  south  !  In  the  success  of  this 
party — in  the  election  of  those  just  and  wise  men,  Grant  and  Colfax 
— is  the  salvation  of  the  south.  Peace — a  righteous  and  enduring 
Peace — would  come  of  it.  The  white  men  of  the  south  have  but 
two  enemies.  The  republican  party  is  neither  of  them.  Their  own 
wicked  hearts— wicked  because  still  refusing  to  repent  of  slavery — 
is  one  of  them ;  and  the  other,  and  far  wickeder  one,  is  the  demo 
cratic  party,  which,  its  only  hope  of  re-ascendancy  being  in  the  re 
surrection  of  slavery,  is  ever  at  work  to  inflame  those  wicked  hearts, 
and  to  counsel  and  contrive  that  resurrection. 

You  white  men  of  the  south  have  made  your  choice.  This  choice 
is  to  go  for  the  democratic  party.  You  will,  probably,  be  disap 
pointed  in  the  election.  For  the  north,  though  extensively  corrupted 
by  the  arts  of  the  leaders  of  the  democratic  party,  can  hardly  be 
brought  to  give  a  majority  of  her  votes  to  a  party  which  goes  openly 
for  cheating  the  nation's  creditors  and  for  taking  up  arms  to  bring 
back  under  the  yoke  of  slavery  a  race  to  whose  magnanimous  for- 
getfulness  of  their  immeasurable  wrongs  and  to  whose  brave  hearts 
and  stalwart  arms  the  salvation  of  our  country  is  so  largely  due. 

I  said  that  you  would,  probably,  be  disappointed  in  the  election. 
Happy,  thrice  happy,  for  you  if  you  shall  be.  For  the  war  that 
would  come  of  the  success  of  the  democratic  party,  would  be  very 


294  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

different  in  its  character  and  results  from  what  you  dream  of.  You 
who  were  slave-masters,  are  deceived  in  your  calculations  by  the 
facility  with  which  you  formerly  disposed  of  your  blacks.  You  for 
get  that,  whilst  they  were  then  but  your  disposable  chattels,  they 
are  now,  your  self-disposing  fellow- freemen.  You  ignore  history. 
You  overlook  the  fact  that  the  African,  though  easily  kept  under 
foot,  is  not  easily  after  his  rights  have  been  restored  to  him,  brought 
under  foot  again.  You  forget  the  torrents  of  blood  in  which  France 
learned  the  lesson,  when  near  the  beginning  of  this  century,  she 
sought  to  bring  back  a  few  hundred  thousand  freedmen  in  the  west 
ern  part  of  St.  Domingo,  under  the  yoke  of  slavery,  and  in  which 
Spain  also  learned  it  when,  only  a  few  years  ago,  she  attempted  a 
substantially  like  oppression  in  the  case  of  a  far  smaller  number  of 
the  same  race  in  the  eastern  end  of  the  same  island.  You  will  not 
succeed  in  wresting  the  ballot  and  freedom  from  four  millions  of 
blacks,  whose  women  are  as  brave  and  hardy  as  their  men,  and  all 
of  whom  can  live  in  mountains  and  marshes. 

I  see,  in  a  menacing  and  mean  address  of  the  democrats  of 
Charleston  to  the  blacks  of  that  city,  that  the  democrats  of  New 
York  have  again  promised  you  help  to  fight  your  pro-slavery  battles. 
They  failed  to  fulfil  their  promise  before.  They  will  fail  to  fulfil 
their  promise  now.  As  before,  they  will  talk  for  you,  but  shrink 
from  fighting  for  you.  If  they  have  no  conscience  "  to  make  cow 
ards  "  of  them,  nevertheless  they  have  a  wholesome  dread  of  en 
countering  the  millions,  who  will  be  as  enraged  by  such  a  nefarious 
attempt  to  rob  them  of  rights  which  it  is  for  their  life  to  retain,  as 
would  be  the  she  bear  or  lioness  by  the  attempt  to  rob  her  of  her 
young. 

Pro-slavery  gentlemen  of  the  south  !  you  cannot  too  soon  give 
up  your  purpose  to  plunder  the  blacks  of  the  ballot.  Your  attempt 
to  put  it  in  execution  will  bring  on  a  scene  of  horrors,  such  as  living 
man  has  never  witnessed.  There  will  be  "  blood  even  unto  the 
horse  bridles."  Besides  that  it  will  be  an  attempt  against  an  infuriate 
foe,  it  will  encounter  the  sympathies  of  nearly  all  of  Earth  as  well  as 
quite  all  of  Heaven.  Give  up  the  attempt  !  Cease  from  your  hatred 
and  scorn  of  your  colored  brother.  Take  him  by  the  hand.  In 
struct  and  guide  him — and  so  will  he  bless  you  by  his  freedom  and 
his  ballot.  The  sooner  you  bring  yourself  to  admit  that  the  right  to 
vote  is  entirely  irrespective  of  complexion,  the  better.  You  sir,  and 
the  other  gentlemen,  who  signed  your  letter,  would  have  us  believe 
that  the  blacks  of  the  south  are  too  ignorant  to  vote.  Allow  me  to 
reply,  that  it  does  not  lie  in  the  mouth  of  those  who  used  their  supc- 


THE    WAR.  295 

rior  knowledge  to  destroy  their  country,  to  speak  disparagingly  of 
the  inferior  knowledge  which  others  used  in  saving  that  country. 

But  I  need  write  no  more.  Indeed,  I  had  no  encouragement  to 
write  at  all.  For,  when  was  it  ever  known  that  the  oppressing-  race 
did  not  underrate  and  despise  the  strength  and  resources  of  the 
oppressed  race  ?  And  when,  too,  was  it  ever  known  that  the  op 
pressor  accustomed  as  he  ever  is,  to  flatter  himself  and  be  flattered 
by  others,  would  consent  to  open  his  ear  to  the  words  of  warning  ? 
Ere  closing  however,  I  must  say  three  things  to  you,  which  if  not  as 
polite  as  they  are  personal,  are  nevertheless,  things  which  I  trust, 
can  be  said  vvithout  going  counter  to  the  rule  of  good-breeding. 

First,  when  you  accepted  the  easy  terms  on  which  Gen.  Grant, 
as  generous  as  he  is  brave  and  just,  allowed  you  to  surrender,  nei 
ther  the  prophet  who  foretold  the  crimes  of  Hazael,  nor  any  other 
prophet,  could  have  persuaded  you  that,  in  little  more  than  three 
years,  you  would  in  return  for  the  generosity  shown  to  you  and  your 
army,  be  found  in  league  with  the  worst  enemy  of  this  nation.  For 
the  democratic  party  is  incomparably  its  worst  enemy.  By  the  way, 
I  rejoiced  in  those  easy  terms  of  surrender  ;  and  one  of  my  strongest 
desires  for  the  election  of  Grant  springs  from  my  confidence,  that 
President  Grant  will  be  as  generous  and  conceding  to  the  south  as 
was  Gen.  Grant.  He  will  be  as  ready  in  his  civil,  as  he  was  in  his 
military  capacity  to  make  every  concession  to  her  that  is  not  forbid 
den  by  justice  and  reason. 

Second,  bred  as  you  were,  in  a  school  of  honor,  and  all  your  life 
disdaining  to  do  aught,  which  your  judgment  pronounced  dishonor 
able,  you  could  not  have  foreseen  that  you  woud  be  guilty  of  calling 
on  this  nation  to  do  a  meaner,  as  well  as  wickeder  thing,  than  has 
ever  been  done  by  any  nation.  The  crimes  of  this  nation  against 
the  colored  race  are  beyond  description,  and  yet  this  race,  surpassing 
every  other  in  affectionateness  and  patience  and  forgiveness,  dropped 
those  crimes  from  its  memory,  and  took  up  arms  to  save  the  nation 
that  had  so  wronged  it.  Now,  for  this  nation  to  undertake  to  throw 
this  race  under  the  feet  of  its  old  oppressors  is  to  undertake  to  reach 
the  very  climax  of  perfidy  and  meanness  and  wickedness.  Never 
theless,  this  is  just  what  you  advise  it  to  do.  I  know  that  the  lead 
ers  of  the  democratic  party  are  but  in  keeping  with  their  character, 
when  they  go  forward  in  this  undertaking — for  there  is  no  wrong, 
however  flagrant,  which  they  hesitate  to  perpetrate,  if  only  the  in 
terests  of  their  party  call  for  the  perpetration.  But  I  also  know  that 
whoever  else  can  consistently  have  part  in  this  cruelty  and  baseness, 
a  man  of  honor  should  refuse  to  stain  himself  with  it.  Let  me,  in 


296  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

this  connection,  say  that  since  I  have  not,  for  between  thirty  and 
forty  years,  belonged  to  any  one  of  the  great  political  parties  of  the 
country,  my  speaking  against  the  democratic  party  cannot  be 
attributed  to  a  party  spirit. 

Third,  and  when  you  surrendered,  how  little  did  you  apprehend 
that  you  would  claim,  as  you  do  in  your  letter,  "  their  rights  under 
the  constitution,"  for  those  who  had  defied  it  and  trampled  it  under 
foot.  Preposterous  claim  !  They  have  no  rights  at  all  under  the 
constitution.  As  well  might  a  devil  in  hell  plead  his  rights  under 
the  Bible  he  has  scouted.  They  have  no  rights  under  anyjaw,  save 
the  law  of  war — no  rights  but  those  which  the  conqueror  is  bound, 
in  justice  and  humanity,  to  concede  to  the  conquered.  Scarcely 
anything  in  the  republican  party  has  disgusted  me  more  than  its 
occasional  loose  talk  about  the  constitutional mode  of  settling  mat 
ters  between  the  north  and  the  south.  The  word  "  constitution," 
should  never  have  been  spoken  between  the  north  and  the  south 
until  the  war  between  them  had  ceased,  and  the  return  of  peace  had 
been  mutually  recognized.  The  war  is  not  yet  ended  ;  and  there  can 
never  be  peace  in  our  land,  until  this  alliance  between  northern  de 
mocracy  and  southern  pro-slavery  shall  be  effectually  and  forever 
broken  up.  Never  was  their  alliance  closer  than  now  ;  and  never 
was  their  purpose  to  crush  the  negro  deeper  or  more  malignant  than 
now. 

If  the  Southern  uprising  amounted  to  no  more  than  a  rebellion, 
then  all  involved  in  it  were  rebels  and  traitors.  Then  all  of  them 
had,  still,  rights  under  the  constitution — especially  and  emphatically, 
the  right  to  be  punished  under  it.  But  if  it  is,  as  you  assert,  and  as, 
in  numberless  arguments  I  have  asserted,  that  this  uprising  attained 
to  the  dimensions  and  dignity  of  a  civil  war,  then  did  it  pass  from 
under  the  constitution,  and  take  its  place  under  the  "  Liw  of  War." 
Of  course,  it  did  not  surprise  me  to  find  the  northern  democratic 
leaders  telling  the  south,  that  she  was  still  under  the  constitution. 
No  falsehood,  no  baseness,  on  their  part  can  surprise  me.  But,  I 
confess,  that  it  did  surprise  me  to  find  high-minded  southern  gen 
tlemen  accepting  this  version  of  the  matter;  and  thus  degrading 
their  valorous  and  mighty  movement  into  a  mere  rebellion  ;  and, 
thus,  with  their  own  hands,  putting  halters  around  their  own  necks, 
by  which  to  be  hung  as  traitors,  whenever  the  government  might 
choose  to  hang  them.  Respectfully  yours, 

GERRIT  SMITH. 

F.  S.--In  looking  over  what  I  have  written,  I  see  that  I  have  not 


THE    WAR.  297 

so  much  as  mentioned  the  name  of  your  presidential  candidate. 
But  the  omission  is  not  important.  For,  in  the  first  place,  there  is 
scarcely  a  possibility  that  the  Seymour  and  Blair  ticket  will  be  elected  ; 
and,  in  the  next  place,  if  it  should  be,  Mr.  Seymour  would  not  be 
President.  In  that  event,  the  shedding  of  blood  would,  as  was  as 
frankly  as  brutally  foretold  by  Mr.  Blair,  be  the  policy  of  the  demo 
cratic  party.  But  the  gentle  nature,  bland  manners  and  persuasive 
lips  of  Mr.  Seymour  would  be  entirely  out  of  harmony  with  this  bar 
barous  policy.  Whatever  the  difficulties  to  be  disposed  of,  and  how 
ever  hard  the  knots  to  be  untied,  his  reliance  will  ever  be  upon 
Blarney  instead  of  Blood.  Hence,  Mr.  Seymour,  even  if  elected 
President,  would  not  be  the  President.  He  would  have  either  to 
stand  aside,  or  be  put  aside.  If  this  murder-party,  which  has,  within 
the  last  three  years,  murdered  for  their  political  opinions,  more  than 
a  thousand  men  at  the  south,  shall  come  to  be  in  the  ascendant  all 
over  the  land,  murder  may  be  well-nigh  as  common  in  the  north  as 
in  the  south.  Human  life  in  this  country  would  be  made  cheap  by 
the  success  of  the  party  which,  not  in  spite,  but  in  consequence  of 
his  murderous  programme,  nominated  General  Blair  for  Vice  Presi 
dent — ay,  and  emphatically,  for  President  also. 

The  triumphant  election  of  General  Grant  to  the 
Presidency,  in  1868,  with  Schuyler  Colfax  as  his  second, 
seemed  the  natural  conclusion  of  the  war.  In  his  hands, 
one  might  expect  the  northern  interests  to  be  safe.  It 
might  be  presumed  that  the  man  who  had  brought  the 
conflict  to  a  successful  close,  would  guard,  better  than 
any  civilian  could  do,  the  results  which  the  war  obtained. 
The  crushing  defeat  of  the  democratic  party  justified 
the  belief,  at  all  events  the  hope,  that  the  principles  with 
which  it  had  so  strangely  allied  itself,  were  expelled  from 
the  political  arena,  and  would  no  more  dare  to  lift  their 
serpent  heads.  Four  years  of  peace,  with  an  adminis 
tration  pledged  to  justice  towards  the  freedmen,  to 
equity  towards  the  south,  to  honesty  towards  the  na 
tional  creditors,  to  the  law  of  righteousness  and  the  in 
dustries  of  peace,  would,  it  might  be  confidently  pre- 
13* 


298  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

dieted,  suffice  to  place  the  country  in  a  condition  to 
make  good  its  noblest  pledges  to  the  civilized  world.  In 
his  usual  outspoken  way,  Gerrit  Smith  congratulated 
the  new  President : 

Peterboro,  November  4,  1868. 

PRESIDENT  GRANT  : 

Honored  and  Dear  Sir  —  Pardon  this  letter.  Pardon  my  irre 
pressible  impatience  to  write  it.  I  learn  to-day,  that  you  are  made 
President  of  the  United  States:  and  I  cannot  wait,  even  until  to 
morrow,  to  say  to  you  what  my  whole  soul  urges  me  to  say  to  you. 

Before  the  election,  your  exhortation  to  your  countrymen  was : 
"  Let  us  have  Peace  !  "  To  this  exhortation,  as  sublime  as  it  is  con 
cise,  their  reply,  in  the  voice  of  the  election,  is  also,  "  Let  us  have 
Peace  !  "  What  you  then  asked  of  them,  they  now  ask  of  you.  What 
you  then  called  on  them  to  do,  they  have  now  put  it  in  your  power  to 
do,  and  now  call  on  you  to  do. 

What,  however,  is  the  peace  which  you  asked  for,  and  which  in 
turn,  you  are  asked  for  ?  Is  it  of  a  superficial  and  evanescent  char 
acter  ?  or  is  it  that  deep  and  enduring  peace,  whose  foundations  are 
in  nothing  short  of  nature  and  reason,  justice  and  religion?  The 
pride  of  race,  of  rank,  of  wealth  has  ever  stood  in  the  way  of  realiz 
ing  this  true  peace.  The  pride  of  race  is  by  far  the  greatest  of  these 
obstacles,  and  it  is  of  this  one  that  I  would  speak  to  you.  Our  New 
England  fathers  brought  much  religion  with  them  to  America. 
Unhappily,  it  was  more  of  the  Jewish  than  the  Christian  type ;  for 
never  was  there  a  people  in  whom  so  much  as  in  the  Jews,  the  pride 
of  race  was  controlling,  contemptuous  and  cruel.  These  fathers 
saw  in  the  American  tribes  only  another  set  of  heathen  :  and  the 
laws  of  the  Jews  in  dealing  with  their  heathen  became  (more,  it  is 
true,  in  spirit  than  in  letter),  the  laws  for  dealing  with  ours.  By 
these  laws  the  most  learned  and  influential  of  the  New  England 
divines  insisted  that  the  family  of  even  King  Philip  should  be  ad 
judged — of  that  King  Philip,  who  wept  when  he  heard  that  an  Indian 
had  shed  the  blood  of  a  white  man.  The  wife  of  Philip  was  sold 
into  slavery,  and  into  a  foreign  land.  These  Judaized  teachers  and 
judges,  instead  of  entering  upon  the  case  with  human  hearts,  pored 
upon  the  bloodiest  pages  of  the  Old  Testament ;  and  instead  of  im 
buing  themselves  with  the  spirit  of  that  Blessed  One  to  whom  the 
Samaritan  was  as  dear  as  the  Jew,  and  in  whose  religion  "  there  is 
neither  Greek  nor  Jew,  circumcision  nor  uncircumcision,  Barbarian, 


THE    WAR.  299 

Scythian,  bond  nor  free,"  set  their  revenge  all  ablaze  by  gazing  at 
the  worst  examples  of  revenge. 

There  has  never  been  a  thorough  peace  between  our  white  man 
and  our  red  man.  The  lack  of  it  is,  doubtless,  to  be  traced  more  or 
less,  to  this  mistake  of  the  white  man  in  regarding  himself  as  of  the 
heaven-loved  and  heaven- favored  race,  and  the  red  man  as  of  the 
heaven-hated  and  heaven-cursed  race.  Perhaps  we  are  never  to 
have  peace  with  our  Indians.  Perhaps  no  however  just  treatment 
of  them  on  our  part  could  avail  to  regain  their  confidence.  There 
is  but  too  much  reason  to  fear  that  this  confidence  is  lost  forever ; 
and  that,  in  their  utter  distrust  and  undying  hatred  of  us,  they  will 
continue  to  dash  themselves  against  our  superior  power,  until  little 
or  nothing  shall  remain  of  them.  How  different  from  all  this  would 
it  have  been  had  we  and  our  ancestors,  instead  of  indulging  this 
pride  of  race,  cordially  recognized  the  equality  of  all  men  in  the  sight 
of  their  common  Father  ! 

Even  more  proudly  and  cruelly  have  we  borne  ourselves  toward 
the  black  man  than  towrard  the  red  man.  Very  extensively  has  the 
belief  obtained  among  us,  that  the  Jewish  part  of  our  religion  author 
ized  us  to  make  not  only  "  a  servant  of  servants  "  but  property  of 
him,  and  to  strip  him  as  bare  of  rights  as  is  any  kind  of  property. 
In  that  monstrous  side  of  our  religion  we  found,  or  fancied  we 
found,  that  God  had  laid  peculiarly  heavy  curses  upon  the  black 
man. 

Alas,  what  sorrow  has  come  to  our  country  from  the  indulgence 
of  this  murderous  caste  spirit  toward  the  black  man  !  For  many 
generations  he  has  wet  with  his  tears  and  blood  the  soil  he  has 
tilled.  At  length  came  the  war,  which  was  the  natural,  if  not  in 
deed  necessary,  culmination  of  our  guilty  nation's  sufferings — a  war 
costing  many  thousands  of  millions  of  dollars  and  filling  several  hun 
dred  thousands  of  graves.  This  war  is  not  yet  ended — and,  mainly, 
for  the  reason  that  the  indulgence  of  this  hatred  of  race  is  not  yet 
ended.  So  rife  and  so  ruling  is  this  hatred,  that  murder  is  committed 
in  our  nation  every  day,  if  not  indeed  every  hour. 

Because  of  this  hatred  between  races,  how  full  of  bloody  conten 
tions,  for  centuries,  was  Spain  ! — and  how  disastrous  to  her  in  all 
her  subsequent  history  was  the  final  victory  of  the  Spaniard  over  the 
Moor  !  How  Greeks  and  Turks  have  hated  and  wasted  each  other ! 
And  how  severe  and  protracted  has  been  the  oppression  of  the  Irish 
because  they  were  Irish  instead  of  English  !  Until  the  Irish  and 
English  shall  know  each  other  as  men  rather  than  as  Irishmen  and 
Englishmen,  there  cannot  be  a  sound  and  permanent  peace  between 


300  LIFE  OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

them.  The  treatment  of  the  Chinese  immigrants  upon  our  western 
coast  comes,  also,  of  this  pride  of  race.  How  cruel  and  infamous 
that  treatment ! 

We  often  hear  even  men  of  culture  declare  that,  in  a  war  between 
their  own  and  another  race,  they  would  take  the  side  of  their  own, 
be  it  or  be  it  not  the  side  of  justice.  How  base  is  such  a  declara 
tion  !  On  the  other  hand,  how  beautiful  is  the  following  of  justice 
whithersoever  it  leads,  and  the  honoring  of  it  in  whatever  variety  or 
section  of  our  grand  common  humanity  it  may  be  found. 

The  chief  thing  for  which  I  took  up  my  pen  was  to  remind  you 
of  the  deep  desire  of  many  hundred  thousands  who  voted  for  you,  to 
have  your  administration  signalized  by  its  cordial  recognition  of  the 
equal  rights  of  all  races  of  men  :  by  its  downright  and  effective  as 
sertion  that  no  man  loses  rights  by  being  born  in  a  skin  of  one  color 
instead  of  another;  and  by  its  faithful,  warm-hearted  and  successful 
endeavors  to  rid  our  country  of  this  low  and  brutal  antagonism  of 
races.  What  your  administration  shall  be  in  other  respects  is  of 
comparatively  little  consequence.  Confident,  however,  may  all  be 
that,  if  right  in  this  most  comprehensive  and  vital  respect,  it  will  be 
right  in  every  other  essential  one.  No  wonder  that  the  democratic 
party  was  in  favor  of  robbing  the  nation's  creditors.  The  party 
that  can  rob  a  race  of  all  the  rights  of  manhood,  and  build  and  main 
tain  itself  on  such  robbery,  is  of  course  capable  of  every  other  rob 
bery,  because  every  other  is  infinitely  less  than  this  sweeping  one. 
I  said  that  this  party  was  in  favor  of  robbery — for  it  is,  now,  a  party 
of  the  past  only.  It  was  not  killed  by  the  vote  of  yesterday.  It  was 
killed  when  slavery  was  killed.  In  losing  slaver)-  it  lost  its  tap  root, 
its  indispensable  nourishment.  Its  partial  resurrection  was  solely 
because  of  the  prospect  of  the  reanimation  of  slavery.  The  prospect 
of  this  reanimation  was  blighted  yesterday;  and  this  pro-slavery 
democratic  party  has  therefore  fallen  back  into  its  grave,  never 
again  to  rise,  nor  even  to  attempt  to  rise,  from  it.  Many  a  "  Demo 
cratic  Party"  there  may,  hereafter,  be  in  our  country — but  no  one  of 
them  will  be  a  pro-slavery  party,  and,  therefore,  no  one  of  them  will 
be  like  this  party,  which  was  killed  several  years  ago,  and  which 
lost  yesterday  all  hope  of  a  resurrection.  Yesterday's  vote  has  left 
no  room  for  a  pro-slavery  party,  either  now  or  hereafter.  Most  em 
phatically  true  is  this,  if  the  measures  and  influence  of  your  adminis 
tration  shall  be  withering  and  fatal  to  the  caste-spirit — to  that  spirit 
which,  more  than  all  things  else,  begets  and  fosters  slavery. 

Entirely  reasonable  is  the  confidence  that  your  administration,  if 
it  maintain  the  equal  rights  of  all  our  races  of  men,  will  not  fail  of 


THE    WAR.  301 

responding  to  all  the  essential  claims  of  justice.  Of  no  wrong  to  the 
nation's  creditors  will  it  be  guilty.  For  universal  suffrage  it  will  be 
unyielding — not  merely  because,  as  the  right  to  life,  liberty,  and 
property  is  natural,  so  participation  in  the  choice  of  those  at  whose 
official  disposal  these  possessions  so  largely  lie,  must  also  be  a 
natural  right ;  but,  because  all  have  seen  that  nothing  short  of  the 
ballot  in  the  hands  of  those  who  have  recently  emerged  from  slavery 
can  save  them  from  being  thrust  back  into  it.  The  governments 
which  President  Johnson  set  up  in  the  south  recognized  no  political 
rights  in  black  men  :  and  straightway  these  governments  set  to 
work  to  reenslave  them.  It  matters  not,  as  regards  my  argument, 
that  this  new  slavery  was  not  literal  chattel-slavery.  It  has  none  of 
the  alleviations  incident  to  chattel-slavery,  and  was,  on  the  whole, 
more  oppressive  and  cruel. 

In  this  connection  let  me  add  that,  far  above  all  the  other  good 
which  will  come  from  the  purging  of  the  nation  of  this  malignant 
and  cruel  caste-spirit,  will  be  the  removal  thereby  of  the  greatest  ob 
stacle  in  the  way  of  the  Christ- religion.  For  the  spirit  of  this  religion 
cannot  dwell  in  the  bosom  that  cherishes  the  hatred  of  race.  And, 
then,  what  so  much  as  the  spirit  of  this  religion  of  nature  and  rea 
son,  justice  and  goodness,  prepares  the  bosom  to  welcome  sound 
political  principles  and  cultivate  sound  political  sentiments  ? 

I  saw,  in  your  letter  of  August  1863,  that  you  had  not,  in  your 
early  life,  made  human  rights  one  of  your  studies.  Nevertheless, 
that,  in  the  high  office  to  which  you  were  chosen  yesterday,  you  will 
prove  yourself  to  be  their  enlightened,  impartial  and  successful  de 
fender,  I  cannot  doubt.  For  like  the  martyred  and  immortal  Lin 
coln,  you  are  above  the  stupidity  of  not  being  able  to  change,  and 
above  the  weakness  of  being  ashamed  to  change.  Indeed,  while  in 
your  letter  to  which  I  have  referred,  you  say  that  formerly  you  had 
not  been  "  an  abolitionist — not  even  what  could  be  called  anti- 
slavery " — you  do,  in  the  same  letter,  acknowledge  yourself  to  have 
advanced  so  far  as  to  insist  on  the  abolition  of  slavery,  and  on  there 
being  no  peace  which  permits  the  existence  of  slavery.  Moreover, 
in  another  of  your  letters  written  in  the  same  month,  you  reach  the 
altitude  of  declaring  that  "  Human  Liberty  is  the  only  foundation  of 
Human  Government."  Better  still  is  your  recent  declaration  to  Mr. 
Colfax  that,  in  your  Presidency,  "  we  shall  have  the  strong  arm  of 
the  executive,  representing  the  will  and  majesty  of  a  mighty  people, 
declaring  and  insuring  to  every  citizen,  black  or  white,  rich  or  poor, 
be  he  humble  or  exalted,  the  safeguard  of  the  nation,  and  protecting 
him  from  every  wrong  with  the  shield  of  our  national  strength." 


3O2  LIFE  OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

But,  best  of  all  to  prove  your  discernment  and  appreciation  of  human 
rights,  and  your  fidelity  to  them,  was  your  acceptance  of  your  nom 
ination  and  of  the  righteous  principles  of  the  republican  party.  The 
grandest  of  all  these  principles  is  not  no-slavery — but  universal  suf 
frage  :  for  the  ballot  is  the  mightiest  protection  of  its  possessor  not 
only  from  slavery  but  from  every  other  wrong.  That  universal  suf 
frage  is  one  of  the  principles  of  the  republican  party  is  manifest  from 
its  being  set  up  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  Had  this  party  as  clear 
a  constitutional  right  to  set  it  up  in  the  loyal  states,  all  those  states 
would,  also,  have  been  blessed  with  it.  The  acting  of  Congress  on 
the  question  of  suffrage  in  the  disloyal  states  was  under  the  Law  of 
War — was  the  exercise  of  the  right  of  the  conqueror. 

Nor  in  your  early  life  did  you  take  the  lead  in  saving  a  nation. 
But,  when  the  time  came  for  you  to  do  so,  you  did  so  ;  and  did  so 
successfully,  triumphantly.  Nor  in  early  life,  had  you  heard  the  call 
to  help  drive  out  of  your  country  this  mean  and  murderous  antag 
onism  of  races.  Since  then  however,  you  have  heard  it,  and  have 
been  obeying  it.  And  now,  safely  can  your  country  rely  on  your 
wisdom  and  justice  for  what  more  she  needs  at  your  hands.  The 
qualities  so  eminent  in  you,  have  faithfully  and  fully  met  all  the 
claims  which  your  country  has  in  quick  succession  laid  upon  you. 
Not  less  faithfully  and  fully  will  they  meet  all  her  remaining  claims 
upon  you.  And  well  too,  may  she  trust  that  He  who  has  brought 
you  into  the  Chief  Magistracy  "  for  such  a  time  as  this,"  will  both 
show  you  your  true  work,  and  give  you  head,  heart  and  hand  to  it. 

I  cannot  forbear  saying  that  no  small  ground  of  my  rejoicing  in 
your  election  is  your  charitable  judgment  and  generous  treatment  of 
the  south.  Warmly  did  I  approve  the  easy  terms  on  which  you  al 
lowed  General  Lee  to  surrender.  Your  subsequent  report  of  the 
temper  of  the  south,  after  a  too  hasty  tour  through  it,  showed  that 
you  were  capable  of  forming  a  charitable  judgment  of  even  a  recent 
foe.  Far  too  favorable  as  this  report  was  thought  to  be,  it  neverthe 
less  would  have  been  borne  out  in  a  high  degree,  had  not  these  bad 
men  amongst  the  leaders  of  the  northern  democracy  held  back  the 
south  from  accepting  the  situation,  and  pushed  her  forward  to  the 
indecent  and  preposterous  inversion  of  claiming  for  the  conquered 
the  right  to  dictate  *erms  to  the  conqueror.  And  how  monstrous 
these  claims !  Nothing  less  than  that  the  nation  should  again  put 
under  the  leet  of  the  wicked  white  men,  the  black  men  who  had 
taken  up  arms  to  save  her !  No  fear  need  be  entertained  that,  in 
your  measures  for  peaceable  and  affectionate  relations  between  the 
north  and  the  south,  you  will  lay  all  the  blame  of  our  civil  war  on 


THE    WAR,  303 

the  south.  Inasmuch  as  the  north  is  scarcely  less  responsible  than 
the  south  for  slavery,  you  will  judge  and  rightly  too,  that  she  is 
scarcely  less  responsible  for  the  war,  which  grew  out  of  it.  Where- 
ever  there  is  a  man  who,  because  he  became  the  enemy  of  his  coun 
try,  was  subjected  to  political  disabilities,  there  is  a  man  whom  you 
would  have  relieved  of  them  as  soon  as  there  is  proof  that  he  has 
again  become  its  friend.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  you  will  regard  no 
man  as  the  friend  of  the  country,  who  wars  upon  his  neighbor  be 
cause  that  neighbor  is  from  a  race  different  from  his  own,  or  because 
that  neighbor  stands  up  for  the  equal  rights  of  all  the  races  of  men. 

I  close  my  letter  with  saying  that  I  like  to  believe  that  the  motto 
of  your  administration  will  be  :  "A  man's  a  man."  The  spirit  of 
such  a  motto  pervading  our  land  will  make  it  a  land  of  peace.  The 
white  man  and  the  black  man  will  be  at  peace  with  each  other  ;  the 
north  and  the  south  ; — and  this  peace,  because  founded  in  un 
changeable  nature  instead  of  shifting  human  expediency, — in  the 
Divine  constitution  of  things  instead  of  human  and  conventional 
arrangements,  will  be  a  thorough  and  a  permanent  peace.  I  scarcely 
need  add  that  the  identifying  of  your  administration  with  the  sub 
lime  and  Christian  doctrine  of  the  oneness  of  the  children  of  men — 
with  the  sublime  and  Christian  doctrine  that  every  man  is  every 
other  man's  brother  and  God  the  common  and  equal  Father  of  them 
all — will  not  only  make  ours  the  happiest  nation  on  earth,  but  will 
make  it  to  all  other  nations  a  surpassingly  grand  and  influential  ex 
ample  of  casting  down  the  barriers  of  race  and  setting  up  in  their 
stead  the  law  of  impartial  justice  and  the  reign  of  fraternal  love. 

With  the  highest  respect  for  your  virtues,  and  the  deepest  grati 
tude  for  your  services  to  our  beloved  country. 

GERRIT  SMITH. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  PEACE. 

ALL  problems  are  simple  to  the  Idealist.  From  the 
mount  of  beatitudes  one  looks  out  on  a  world  un 
clouded  by  sorrow  or  sin.  "  Blessed  are  the  pure  in  spirit, 
for  theirs  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  "  Blessed  are  the 
meek,  for  they  shall  inherit  the  earth."  **  Blessed  are 
the  persecuted  for  righteousness'  sake."  "  Blessed  are 
the  pure  in  heart."  Gerrit  Smith's  panacea  for  the  ills 
of  the  time  was  Love, — love  for  the  southern  enemy.  If 
we  only  could  love  to  order!  If  simply,  we  were  some 
thing  else  than  men  and  women  !  If  we  were  past  being 
human  !  Or  if  the  prophet  had  the  power  to  make  men 
fulfil  his  prophecy ! 

Dates  are  of  small  consequence  here.  Principles  are 
not  regulated  by  epochs,  do  not  consult  time  tables. 
Some  of  the  words  we  shall  quote  were  written  at  the 
close  of  the  war,  others  several  years  later,  but  the  tone 
of  them  all  is  the  same.  The  declarations  of  principle 
lack  variety. 

"  How  unseemly  not  to  say  how  intensely  hypocritical,  for  the 
north  to  punish  the  south  for  holding  the  doctrine  of  secession,  when 
those  eminent  advocates  of  it,  Jefferson  and  Madison,  have  ever 
been  as  high  political  authorities  for  it  at  the  north  as  at  the  south ; 
and  \vhe*h  too,  the  doctrine  had  become  so  popular  at  the  north 
that  some  of  her  national  conventions  endorsed  it,  and  how  unseem 
ly,  not  to  say  how  intensely  hypocritical,  for  the  north  to  punish  the 
south  for  putting  the  doctrine  in  practice !  For  what  impelled  the 


THE   PEACE.  305 

south  to  do  so  but  the  spirit  of  slavery  ?  that  spirit  for  the  generating 
and  fostering  of  which  the  north  is  scarcely  less  responsible  than 
the  south  ?  Nay,  in  the  light  of  her  smaller  and  less  direct  tempta 
tion,  she  is  far  more  wickedly  responsible  for  that  spirit.  .  . 

"  Were  the  north  penitent,  she  would  instantly  recoil  from  the 
proposition  to  punish  the  south.  For  she  would  see,  in  the  light  of 
such  facts  as  I  have  glanced  at,  her  partnership  with  the  south  in 
the  political  fallacies  and  moral  wrongs  which  have  brought  this 
great  sorrow  on  the  land.  .  .  . 

"  There  is  nothing  in  this  connection  in  which  the  north  appears 
worse  than  in  her  endeavors  by  the  pulpit  and  the  press,  by  popular 
meetings  and  by  visiting  committees,  to  fire  the  President  with  ven 
geance.  How  she  repeats  and  gloats  over  his  admission  that  trea 
son  is  a  crime  to  be  punished  !  No  one  denies  that  treason  is  a 
crime — a  great  crime — and  that,  as  a  general  proposition,  it  should 
be  punished — severely  punished.  But  in  this  case  there  is  no  treason 
to  punish.  I  do  not  say  that  there  is  no  moral  treason  in  this  case. 
Of  this  there  is  an  abundance.  What  I  say  is  that  there  is  no  trea 
son  in  the  eye  of  law.  When  the  Rebellion  broke  out,  all  the  rebels 
were  traitors  ;  and  we  had  the  legal  right  to  punish  them  as  such. 
But,  however  slowly  and  reluctantly,  we  nevertheless  became  at 
last,  convinced  that  we  could  not  carry  on  the  contest  and  save  our 
country  unless  we  allowed  these  rebels  to  come  up  from  traitors  in  a 
Rebellion  into  enemies  in  a  civil  war, — and  a  civil  war,  too,  differing 
in  respect  to  none  of  its  rights  from  a  war  with  a  foreign  nation." 

From   a  letter  to   Chief  Justice  Chase,  dated   May 
28,  1866: 

*'  I  have  said  that  we  must  deal  with  the  south  in  the  spirit  of  im 
partial  justice.  We  must  also  deal  with  her  in  the  spirit  of  great 
generosity  and  great  love.  We  must  claim  no  indemnity  for  the 
past.  We  must  exact  no  unnecessary  security  for  the  future.  We 
must  subject  her  to  no  changes  and  no  disabilities  which  are  not 
indispensable.  If  the  breaking  up  of  her  large  landed  estates  to 
parcel  them  out  to  her  white  and  black  poor  is  not  demanded  by 
her  people,  we  must  not  insist  on  it.  If,  by  putting  the  ballot  into 
the  hands  of  her  blacks,  it  will  not  be  necessary,  in  order  to  save 
her,  to  withhold  it  for  a  season,  from  her  whites  who  were  involved 
in  the  guilt  of  the  war,  then  are  there  strong  reasons  why  we  should 
not  insist  upon  the  probation.  One  thing  more,  the  south  is  poor, 
and  the  north  is  still  rich*  Would  it  be  too  large  an  expression  of 


306  LIFE   OF  GERR1T  SMITH. 

paternal  love,  to  save  the  south  for  some  five  or  ten  years  from  the 
imposition  of  direct  national  taxes  ?  " 

That  such  views  were  interesting  to  prominent  men 
of  various  schools  of  opinion,  and  were  thought  of  suf 
ficient  importance  to  be  presented  formally  to  the  pub 
lic,  is  proved  by  the  correspondence  printed  herewith  : 

June,  1865. 

GERRIT  SMITH,  Esq.,  New  York  : 

Dear  Sir,  —  The  events  which,  with  increasing  emphasis  are 
inscribing  our  national  history,  attract  and  impress  the  public  mind. 
We  think  that  information  is  needed  and  counsel  required.  We 
know  that  the  interest  which  you  have  felt  in  the  conflict  which  is 
passed,  continues  to  the  stages  of  its  pacification  and  close. 

Understanding  your  willingness  to  communicate  with  your  fellow 
citizens  on  national  topics,  we  would  be  pleased  could  you  address 
a  public  meeting  in  this  city,  at  the  Cooper  Institute,  on  the  evening 
of  next  Thursday,  the  8th  instant,  on  the  present  attitude  of  the 
country. 

HORACE  GREELEY,  C.  GODFREY  GUNTHER, 

E.  H.  CHAPIN,  HENRY  WARD  BEECHER, 

RICH'D  O'GORMAN,  DAVID  DUDLEY  FIELD, 

SAM'L  L.  M.  BARLOW,  HENRY  W.  BELLOWS, 

HIRAM  KETCHUM. 

Bearing  in  mind  the  sharp  controversy  between  Ger- 
rit  Smith  and  Horace  Greeley  on  the  subject  of  the 
course  of  the  former,  when  in  Congress,  in  relation  to 
the  Nebraska  Bill ; — remembering  that  S.  L.  M.  Barlow 
was  a  member  of  the  "  Democratic  Vigilance  Associa 
tion,"  which  arraigned  and  would  have  tried  Gerrit  Smith 
for  treasonable  complicity  with  John  Brown  ; — consider 
ing  the  keen  criticism  that  Gerrit  Smith  had  visited  on 
Henry  Ward  Beecher  for  his  eulogium  on  "Stonewall" 
Jackson,  and  for  his  impulsive  expressions  of  sentimental 
compassion  with  the  south  ;  taking  into  account  the 
political  attitude  of  other  signers  of  the  invitation,  this 


THE  PEACE.  307 

tribute  is   remarkable.     Mr.  Smith   accepted  it  without 
hesitation. 

Gentlemen  —  An  invitation  from  such  names  to  make  a  speech 
on  "  National  Affairs "  I  regard  as  a  great  honor.  Gladly  do  I 
accept  it.  GERRiT  SMITH. 

The  speech  was  given,  and  it  contained  a  repetition 
of  the  views  with  which  we  are  familiar  on  the  causes  of 
the  war,  the  past  and  present  relations  of  the  north  and 
the  south,  the  duty  of  conciliation,  reconstruction  by 
the  frank  recognition  of  the  rights  of  the  freedmen.  A 
speech  of  like  purport  was  delivered  in  the  autumn  of 
the  same  year  at  Chicago.  A  long  letter  to  William 
Lloyd  Garrison  and  Wendell  Phillips  on  the  attitude  of 
the  abolitionists  toward  the  impending  issues,  dated 
September  12,  1865,  puts  the  question  from  their  point 
of  view,  and  contends,  1st.  That  the  nation  is  perishing 
because  she  persists  in  not  letting  the  negro  into  the 
human  family,  2d.  That  the  horrors  of  the  worst  of  wars 
— a  war  of  races  —  await  the  south  in  return  for  the 
nation's  crime  of  withholding  the  ballot  from  the  black 
man.  Letters  to  Thaddeus  Stevens,  Charles  Sumner, 
Herschel  V.  Johnson  and  numerous  communications  to 
newspapers  are  evidence  that  this  matter  was  uppermost 
in  his  mind. 

In  the  spring  of  1867,  Mr.  Smith  made  a  remarkable 
speech  in  the  city  of  Richmond,  in  which  he  reiterated 
his  cardinal  belief  that  "  love  will  everywhere,  and  even 
in  the  province  of  statesmanship,  prove  itself  to  be  '  the 
fulfilling  of  the  law.' "  The  north  and  the  south  must 
be  bound  together  in  mutual  love.  The  south  must  not 
try  to  get  away  from  the  moderate  terms  imposed  by 
the  conpueror,  but  must  in  good  faith  accept  the  situa- 


308  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

tion,  and  make  not  the  worst,  but  the  best  of  it.  The 
north  must  deal  with  the  south  justly  and  generously; 
must  honestly  admit  her  complicity  in  guilt,  and  confess 
her  share  of  responsibility ;  must  feel  deep  pity  for  the 
south  in  view  of  her  impoverishment  and  desolation,  and 
do  what  she  can  to  heal  her  wounds,  by  handsome  ap 
propriations  of  money  and  by  exempting  the  prostrate 
states  from  taxation.  The  whites,  remembering  the  un 
paid  toil  of  the  blacks,  their  suffering  and  tears,  should 
in  every  just  and  reasonable  way,  assist  them  to  secure 
homes  of  their  own,  sell  them  land  at  moderate  prices, 
make  them  welcome  to  the  ballot,  provide  them  with 
schools,  and  promote  impartial  legislation.  The  blacks, 
remembering  that  their  former  masters  inherited  the  in 
stitution  that  had  so  lately  been  broken  up,  and  bearing 
in  mind  the  lasting  influence  of  prejudice  and  the  stub 
bornness  of  habit,  must  be  patient,  considerate,  gentle, 
ready  to  believe  that  the  wrongs  of  the  past  will  not  be 
perpetuated  in  the  future. 

"Do  not  cultivate,  nor  let  others  cultivate  in  you,  a  spirit  of  jeal 
ousy.  Far  better  will  it  be  both  for  your  own  temper  and  the  temper 
of  your  best  friends,  that  you  generously  confide  in  them.  Let  me 
here  say,  to  the  end  of  guarding  you  against  an  undiscriminating  and 
unwise  confidence  :  Trust  no  man,  white  or  black,  vote  for  no  man, 
be  he  of  the  republican  or  democratic  party,  who  does  not  acquiesce 
in  your  possession  of  the  ballot,  and  rejoice  in  your  deliverance  from 
the  yoke  of  slavery.  Respect  yourselves  and  you  are  safe.  Failing 
of  this,  you  are  lost.  Give  no  countenance  to  confiscation.  .  .  . 
A  numerously  signed  petition  to  Congress  from  the  blacks  of  the 
south  to  relieve  the  old  leaders  of  the  south  of  their  political  disabil 
ities,  would  be  one  of  the  handsomest  and  happiest  things  in  the 
world.  .  .  .  Black  men  of  the  south,  give  no  occasion  for  even 
your  enemies  to  call  you  rioters.  Never,  never  again,  let  a  black 
man  disgrace  himself  and  mortify  his  northern  and  southern  friends, 
by  either  an  open  or  a  sly  part  in  a  mob.  .  .  .  Keep  clear  of 


THE   PEACE.  309 

rum.  Keep  clear  of  it  if  you  would  keep  clear  of  riots.  Keep  clear 
of  it,  if  you  would  have  homes  of  your  own.  I  would  that  all  negroes 
kept  themselves  so  clear  of  rum  as  to  make  a  man  who  doesrit  drink 
ruin  a  suitable  definition  of  a  negro." 

The  first  condition  of  peace,  in  Gerrit  Smith's  judg 
ment,  should  be  that  "  no  people  in  the  rebel  states 
shall  ever  either  lose  or  gain  civil  or  political  rights  by 
reason  of  their  race  or  origin."  The  next  condition 
should  be 

"  that  our  black  allies  in  the  south — those  saviours  of  our  nation — 
shall  share  with  their  poor  white  neighbors  in  the  subdivisions  of  the 
large  landed  estates  of  the  south.  And  this,  not  merely  to  compen 
sate  them  for  what  we  owe  them ;  and  not  merely  because  they  are 
destitute  of  property ;  and  not  merely  because  they  have  ever  been 
robbed  of  their  earnings,  and  denied  the  acquisition  of  property ; — 
but,  more  than  all  these,  because  the  title  to  the  whole  soil  of  the 
south  is  equitably  in  them  who  have  ever  tilled  it,  and  profusely  shed 
upon  it  their  sweat  and  tears  and  blood.  There  are  who  would  have 
our  soldiers  also,  share  in  these  subdivisions.  But,  besides  that  such 
a  quartering  of  soldiers  and  strangers  upon  the  south  would  be  offen 
sive  to  her ;  we  are  abundantly  able  to  reward  them  otherwise." 

The  third  and  last  condition  should  be,  "  that  the  rebel  masses 
shall  not,  for,  say  a  dozen  years,  be  allowed  access  to  the  ballot  box, 
or  be  eligible  to  office ;  and  that  the  like  restrictions  be  for  life  on 
their  political  and  military  leaders.  ...  I  do  not  say  that  I 
would  have  all  black  men  vote,  I  certainly  would,  were  the  rebels 
allowed  to  vote.  But  with  the  proposed  restrictions  on  rebel  suf 
frage,  I  would  be  quite  content  that  none,  black  or  white,  who  can 
not  read  their  vote,  should  be  permitted  to  cast  it.  As  a  general 
principle,  and  in  ordinary  circumstances,  I  would  not  have  the  ability 
to  read  a  qualification  for  voting." 

The  adoption  of  Gerrit  Smith's  doctrine  of  the  ballot 
would  have  prevented  the  disgrace  and  demoralization 
of  the  past  ten  years.  He  contended  that,  in  a  normally 
constituted  society,  the  right  to  the  ballot  was  universal 
and  natural,  not  a  creation  of  the  social  state,  not  a  con 
ventional  privilege,  but  a  prerogative  incident  to  human- 


3IO  LIFE   OF  G ERR  IT  SMITH. 

ity,  corresponding  with  the  right  to  life  and  property, 
like  that  unlimited,  though,  like  that,  alienable  for  cause. 
But  the  condition  of  the  southern  States  after  the  war 
was  in  every  respect  abnormal  ; — the  whites  were  in  a 
mood  of  anger  and  rebellion  ;  the  blacks  were  too  re 
cently,  as  a  rule,  emancipated  from  a  disabling  and  de 
moralizing  servitude.  In  such  a  predicament,  only  the 
calm  and  intelligent,  of  either  race,  were  capable  of 
voting  judiciously.  The  only  test  of  calmness  and  in 
telligence  being  some  measure  of  education,  an  ability 
to  read  became  indispensable  as  a  prerequisite  to  the 
ballot ; — an  inadequate  test,  to  be  sure,  but  the  best  at 
command.  The  application  of  it  would  disfranchise 
many  whites  and  exclude  many  blacks,  but  the  disfran- 
chisement  would  neutralize  the  exclusion,  and  the  ad 
mission  of  both  races  on  equal  terms  would  place  both 
upon  the  same  plane  of  advantage,  and  ensure,  so  far  as 
any  thing  could,  their  mutual  consideration.  The  point 
to  be  gained  was  the  elevation  of  the  blacks  to  the 
same  political  level  with  the  whites  ;  the  recognition  of 
the  common  manhood,  the  abolition  of  the  principle  of 
caste.  The  thought  of  placing  the  blacks  above  the 
whites,  of  reducing  the  whites  to  an  inferiority, —  the 
notion  that  astute  politicians  hit  on,  and  acted  on,  and 
committed  the  ruling  party  to — was  not  entertained  by 
this  "  visionary,"  who  was  satisfied  with  the  admission 
that  one  man  was  as  good  as  another,  without  addition 
of  the  clause  "  and  better  too." 

Gerrit  Smith  had  no  fear  lest  the  blacks,  still  being 
under  the  influence  of  the  whites  whom  they  had  so 
long  served  as  a  superior  race,  should  vote  as  their  former 
masters  advised. 


THE  PEACE.  311 

"  Why  should  they  not  ?  When  the  blacks  shall  be  possessed  of 
the  ballot,  they  will  be  respected  by  the  whites,  and  will  be  advised 
by  them  to  do  but  what  is  respectable.  The  ballot  in  the  hand  of 
the  black  man  will  gain  for  him  the  respect  of  the  white  man  ;  and 
in  return  for  this  respect  will  be  the  confidence  of  the  black  man  in 
the  white  man.  And  so  full  will  be  this  confidence  that  he  will  fol 
low  the  superior  intelligence  of  the  white  man  at  the  polls  as  well  as 
elsewhere.  Say  not  that  he  will  follow  it  to  wrong.  For  the  putting 
of  the  ballot  in  the  hand  of  the  black  man  will  extensively  have  the 
effect  to  bring  the  white  man  to  consecrate  that  superior  intelligence 
to  the  right.  It  is  by  this  way,  far  more  than  any  other,  that  the 
southern  white  can  be  brought  up  into  a  just  man." 

THE  GOLDEN  RULE  AGAIN. — The  recognition  of  the 
African's  manhood  was  the  beginning,  middle  and  end 
of  the  true  plan  of  reconstruction.  That  involved  every 
thing  else  ;  and  the  symbol  of  the  recognition  of  the 
African's  manhood  was,  in  Gerrit  Smith's  eyes,  the  be 
stowal  on  him  of  the  ballot,  on  a  perfect  equality  with 
the  whites,  the  conditions  of  loyalty  and  intelligence 
being  the  same  with  both.  The  ballot  meant  responsi 
bility,  self-reliance  and  self-respect.  It  was  a  summons 
to  independent  action,  a  call  to  the  school,  the  reading 
room,  the  newspaper.  It  was  a  lien  on  civilization. 
Every  gift  was  subordinate  in  value  to  this.  Even  the 
Civil  Rights  Bill  was  of  secondary  importance,  for  all  the 
Civil  Rights  Bill  promised  to  secure  would  be  won  by 
the  ballot,  and  rights  won  were  better  than  privileges 
conferred.  In  a  letter  to  Henry  Wilson,  dated  March 
26,  1866.  Mr.  Smith  says  with  his  usual  emphasis  : 

"The  Civil  Rights  Bill,  like  much  other  legislation  in  our  country, 
and  in  the  world,  proceeds  on  the  false  principle  that  government  is 
to  be  the  main  reliance  for  the  protection  of  its  subjects.  But  the 
true  principle  is  that  in  the  main,  they  are  to  be  left  to  be  their  own 
protectors.  Now,  in  a  Republic,  the  great  means  of  self-protection 
is  the  ballot.  Hence,  when  our  government  robs  one  of  our  races 


312  LIFE  OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

of  the  ballot  or  suffers  the  robbery,  all  in  vain  will  it  attempt  to 
make  up  for  the  robbery  by  promising  protection  to  the  victims. 
The  Civil  Rights  Bill  cannot  serve  the  black  man  in  place  of  the 
ballot.  But  the  ballot  in  his  hands  would  make  the  bill  superfluous. 
"  Can  you  believe  that  the  '  Civil  Rights  Bill '  will  suffice  to  pro 
tect  the  negro  and  the  white  loyalist  of  the  south  ?  Strange  if  you 
can.  You  well  know  that  no  laws  sufficed  to  protect  from  being 
sold  into  slavery  your  Massachusetts  black  seamen,  who,  in  their 
lawful  pursuits  were  so  unfortunate  as  to  touch  southern  soil.  You 
well  know,  too,  that  Massachusetts  sent  her  eminent  citizens,  Mr. 
Hoar  and  Mr.  Hubbard  to  the  south  to  look  after  the  rights  of  these 
outraged  seamen  ;  and  that  notwithstanding  the  abundant  and  even 
organic  law  on  the  side  of  those  commissioners,  they  had  to  fly 
back  to  the  north  to  save  themselves  from  being  murdered.  Do 
you  say  that  the  Rebellion  has  improved  the  temper  of  the  south  ? 
It  has  made  that  temper  much  worse.  Never  before  was  her  hatred 
of  the  negro  and  the  white  loyalist  so  intense.  .  .  .  Rely  on 
that  bill  or  upon  anything  short  of  impartial  suffrage  for  peace  and 
justice  at  the  south,  and  there  will  be  no  peace  or  justice  there." 

This  was  written  in  a  mood  of  despondency.  The 
hope  of  the  philanthropist  is  weakening.  He  is  antici 
pating  nothing  better  than  persistence  in  the  foolishness 
of  inhumanity,  and  the  defeat  of  the  efforts  made  by  the 
friends  of  the  negro.  He  does  not  believe  that  "a  God 
of  Justice"  will  permit  the  nation  to  prosper  in  such 
wickedness  or  to  long  survive  in  defiance  of  the  law  of 
equity.  "  Her  survival  would  supply  the  atheist  with  a 
new  argument." 

Had  suffrage  been  honestly  granted  to  the  blacks  by 
the  States  as  well  as  by  the  National  government,  and 
practically  secured  to  him,  this  view  of  the  Civil  Rights 
Bill  would  not  probably  have  been  modified.  But  the 
right  of  suffrage  was  embarrassed  by  conditions  which 
rendered  it  virtually  inoperative.  Political  casuistry 
found  a  distinction  with  a  difference  between  national 
and  state  citizenship.  By  virtue  of  this  discrimination, 


THE  PEACE.  313 

the  rights  conferred  by  national  citizenship  could  be  de 
feated  by  the  laws  of  any  state  not  republican  in  its  Con 
stitution.  No  black  man  or  woman,  having  occasion  to 
go  to  Washington  on  business,  could  pass  through  one 
of  the  old  slave  states  without  encountering  obstacles  of 
a  formidable  if  not  absolutely  disconcerting  arid  forbid 
ding  character.  The  owner  of  horses  would  let  no 
vehicle  or  beast ;  the  inns  refused  hospitality ;  the  tav 
erns  refused  refreshment ;  the  story  told  was  not  cred 
ited  ;  the  proofs  of  national  citizenship  were  not  ac 
cepted.  The  blacks  were  liable  to  annoyances  that 
none  but  the  most  resolute  could  face,  and  to  insults 
such  as  none  but  the  most  hardened  or  the  most  saintly 
could  submit  to.  At  home,  where  they  were  known,  the 
obstacles  though  less  formidable  were  serious,  and  to 
people  so  recently  emancipated  and  still  timid,  were  dis 
couraging.  Evidently,  the  boon  of  the  ballot  was  one 
of  doubtful  value  in  such  cases,  indeed,  in  all  cases,  and 
the  friends  of  the  negro,  however  hostile  to  the  paternal 
theory  of  government,  were  driven  to  the  resort  of  addi 
tional  and  special  regulation  in  behalf  of  the  freedmen. 
Hence  the  zeal  for  the  "  Civil  Rights  Bill  "  that  grew  so 
hot  and  strong  in  the  breasts  of  anti-slavery  people. 
Gerrit  Smith  at  last  felt  it  as  much  as  anybody,  though 
he  did  not  speak  of  it  in  terms  as  unqualified  as  some  of 
its  partisans  employed.  He  disclaimed  for  it  all  bearing 
on  matters  purely  social — matters  that  concerned  per 
sonal  preference,  private  partialities,  likes  and  dislikes, 
the  sympathies  and  antipathies  natural  to  temperament, 
culture,  condition,  blood  and  breeding.  The  power  he 
claimed  for  the  bill  was  the  guarantee  of  full  protection 
for  the  blacks  in  the  exercise  of  the  rights  bestowed  on 


314  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

them  as  citizens  of  the  United  States,  the  enforcement 
of  this  security,  where  such  enforcement  was  necessary, 
by  the  authority  of  the  national  government.  The  re 
peated  outrages  against  the  freedmen  in  the  south  excited 
his  indignation.  Not  so  much  however,  as  the  outrages 
against  the  blacks,  at  the  north,  in  places  where  the 
spirit  of  caste  still  prevailed  as  it  had  prevailed  before 
the  war.  The  Military  Academy  at  West  Point  was  the 
chief  of  these  places.  The  spirit  of  the  south  was,  and 
always  had  been,  military.  The  southern  whites  were 
trained  in  the  use  of  arms,  and  in  the  habit  of  carrying 
deadly  weapons.  The  practice  of  duelling  was  popular 
in  their  best  circles ;  their  institutions  rested  on  force. 
Like  all  "  barbarians,"  as  Mathew  Arnold  calls  the  no 
bility  of  England,  and  as  one  is  fairly  entitled  to  call  the 
quasi  nobility  of  Virginia  and  the  Carolinas,  they  em 
ployed  their  leisure  in  war  and  the  chase.  The  Academy 
at  West  Point  was,  as  a  rule,  filled  with  the  sons  of  the 
southern  gentry.  The  south  furnished  the  large  propor 
tion  of  cadets;  it  inspired  the  institution  with  its  senti 
ments;  it  kept  alive  the  distinctions  of  caste,  and  the 
notions  of  "  honor,"  which  distinguish  the  army  and  navy 
all  over  the  earth. 

In  his  speech  of  January  18,  1854,  in  Congress,  on 
the  bill  making  appropriations  for  the  Academy,  Mr. 
Smith  spoke  earnestly  against  the  war-spirit,  implored 
the  house  not  to  pass  any  war-bills,  and  deprecated  the 
existence  of  such  institutions  as  that  at  West  Point  on 
the  ground  that  they  perpetuated  the  enormities  of  war 
by  making  war  a  profession.  Not  that  he  would,  if  he 
could,  abolish  military  and  naval  schools  where  fit  men 
should  receive  the  scientific,  literary  and  moral  education 


THE  PEACE.  315 

that  would  qualify  them  for  effective  service  against  the 
enemies  of  the  human  race  ;  he  believed  such  schools  to 
be  necessary,  but  he  would  have  them  detached  from 
the  war-system ;  schools  for  the  humanities  not  for  the 
inhumanities;  schools  for  the  maintenance  of  the  princi 
ples  of  peace  ;  schools  where  the  arts  of  peace  should  be 
cultivated,  and  the  sacredness  of  peace  should  be  re 
spected  ;  where  the  civility  which  is  the  soul  of  peace 
should  be  studied,  and  the  brotherhood  which  is  the 
bond  of  peace,  should  be  practiced  ;  schools  of  gentle- 
manliness  and  character.  Such  the  Academy  at  West 
Point  never  had  been,  and  never  promised  to  be.  If 
this  was  his  feeling  before  the  war,  it  was  more  intense 
afterward,  when  the  south,  beaten  in  the  field,  insisted 
on  maintaining  its  social  supremacy  in  places  where  it 
had  never  been  disputed.  The  mean  persecutions  of  the 
black  cadets  by  the  whites,  simply  on  the  ground  of  race, 
aroused  in  him  a  hot  indignation.  He  called  now  for 
the  complete  suppression  of  the  Academy  as  a  nursery 
of  the  caste  spirit.  Its  habit  of  scorn  was  incorrigible. 
Cruelty,  cowardice  and  contempt  were  inseparable  from 
it.  Its  existence  implied  the  perpetual  violation  of  prin 
ciples  which  lie  at  the  foundation  of  republican  institu 
tions.  Neither  religion  nor  society  can  be  what  they 
should  be  in  America  so  long  as  such  an  institution  is 
maintained  by  government,  for  its  maintenance  by  gov 
ernment  is  its  countenance  by  the  nation.  New  princi 
ples  must  take  on  new  forms,  and  new  forms  cannot  be 
fashioned  while  old  forms  are  accepted.  Philanthropy 
is  radical  or  it  is  nothing. 

Gerrit  Smith's  offer  to  put  his  name  to  the  bail  bond 
for  Jefferson  Davis  brought  on  him  as  well  as  on  Mr. 


LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

Greeley  a  storm  of  abuse  from  the  patriots,  so  called,  of 
the  north.  But  no  intelligent  person,  who  had  the  least 
understanding  of  the  men,  was  surprised  ;  and  no  sound- 
hearted  person,  capable  of  distinguishing  between  par 
tisanship  and  principle,  had  reason  to  be  offended.  As 
this  is  a  point  of  historical  importance,  the  following 
papers  will  be  of  interest : 

Private.  Office  of  the  Tribune,  New  York,  August  23,  1866. 

To  the  Hon.  GERRIT  SMITH  : 

Dear  Sir,  —  I  enclose  a  memorial  of  which  Mr.  Greeley  is  the 
author,  and  which  I  send  to  you  at  his  request,  hoping  that  it  will 
receive  your  signature  also.  It  explains  itself.  It  is  proposed  with 
no  mere  political  purpose,  but  in  the  cause  of  humanity  and  justice ; 
and  therefore  it  is  designed  that  it  shall  be  subscribed  by  those  only 
who  have  been  persistent  friends  of  the  black  man  and  who  urged 
his  emancipation.  I  trust,  and  in  this  hope  Mr.  Greeley  shares, 
that  it  will  be  promptly  signed  by  you. 

Let  me  say  for  myself  that  I  know  it  would  add  greatly  to  the 
efficiency  of  the  memorial  if  it  were  presented  by  yourself  personally 
to  the  President.  And  if  you  could  go  at  once  to  Washington  on 
this  mission  you  would,  whether  the  prayer  is  successful  or  not,  do 
an  act  which  would  have  a  happy  and  healing  effect  upon  the  pros 
trate  people  of  the  south,  and  be  another  step  in  that  magnanimous 
cause  which  has  already  won  for  you  their  abiding  gratitude. 

Please  send  the  memorial  to  Mr.  Greeley,  Tribune  office,  by 
return  mail  and  believe  me, 

Yours  with  great  esteem, 

GEO.  SHEA. 
Of  counsel  for  Jefferson  Davis. 

Peterboro,  Aug.  34,  1866. 

GEORGE  SHEA,  Esq. : 

Dear  Sir,  —  This  morning's  mail  brings  me  your  esteemed  and 
welcome  letter,  accompanied  by  a  memorial  to  the  President. 
Without  hesitancy  and  with  great  satisfaction  I  have  put  my  name 
to  the  memorial. 

Were  I  convinced  (which  I  cannot  be)  that  one  of  so  little  influ 
ence  as  my  own  with  public  men,  could  by  visiting  the  President, 
promote  the  object  of  the  memorial,  I  would  not  delay  to  visit  him. 


THE   PEACE.  SI/ 

Some  one  of  a  name  and  faith  less  offensive  than  mine,  must  be  the 
bearer  of  the  memorial.  I  venture  however,  to  address  a  note  to 
the  President  which,  as  you  and  Mr.  Greeley  may  prefer,  can  be  sent 
or  withheld.  I  am,  dear  sir, 

Very  respectfully  yours,  etc., 

GERRIT  SMITH. 

MEMORIAL. 

To  THE  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES: 

The  undersigned  earnestly  solicit  your  attention  to  the  condition 
of  Jefferson  Davis,  a  citizen  of  Mississippi,  now  held  a  prisoner  of 
state  in  Fortress  Monroe. 

We  understand  these  to  be  facts  :  that  Jefferson  Davis  was  captured 
on  the  nth  day  of  May  1865,  and  has  for  over  fifteen  months  been  a 
close  prisoner  in  the  fortress  aforesaid. 

That  he  stands  publicly  charged  on  the  highest  authority  with 
the  atrocious  crime  of  conspiracy  to  murder  our  late  President  Lin 
coln,  and  is  popularly  accounted  guilty  of  other  high  crimes  and 
misdemeanors. 

That  he  persistently  and  vehemently  declares  himself  not  guilty 
of  any  of  the  offenses  laid  to  his  charge,  and  most  earnestly  demands 
an  eariy  and  impartial  trial  on  any  indictment  that  has  been  or  may 
be  found  against  him. 

That  learned  and  able  counsel  believe  him  to  be  innocent  at  least 
of  the  more  heinous  offense  wherewith  he  is  charged,  and  unite  in 
the  demand  that  he  be  speedily  accorded  a  fair  trial  by  a  court  of 
civil  judicature. 

That  though  he  was  fifteen  months  in  prison  awaiting  and  calling 
for  a  trial,  he  has  not  even  been  indicted  except  for  treason,  nor  can 
we  learn  that  even  an  attempt  has  been  made  to  indict  him  on  any 
other  charge. 

That  his  counsel  have  duly  endeavored  by  all  the  means  known 
to  the  law  to  bring  his  case  before  some  competent  legal  tribunal 
for  adjudication  whether  by  writ  of  habeas  corpus  or  otherwise,  and 
have  been  baffled  and  defeated  therein. 

That  they  have  been  unable  to  obtain  from  the  legal  representa 
tives  of  the  government  even  a  promise  that  he  should  be  put  on  trial 
at  some  specified  future  day. 

That  his  health  is  suffering  from  his  protracted  confinement,  so 
that  his  physicians  deem  his  life  endangered  thereby.  Believing 
these  to  be  facts,  the  undersigned,  having  neither  personal  nor  po- 


3l8  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

litical  affinities  with  the  prisoner,  but  on  the  contrary  utterly  and  in 
tensely  adverse  to  the  political  views  which  have  led  him  to  his 
present  position,  do  yet  most  respectfully  represent,  in  the  interest 
alike  cf  humanity,  public  justice  and  the  rights  of  person  secured 
to  every  citizen  by  law,  that  Jefferson  Davis  the  prisoner  aforesaid 
should  either  be  speedily  arraigned  and  tried,  or  else  admitted 
to  bail. 

We  are  your  fellow-citizens. 
Dated  Aug.  14,  1866. 

Peterboro,  N.  Y.,  August  24,  1866. 

PRESIDENT  JOHNSON: 

Honored  Sir  —  I  have  this  day  subscribed  a  memorial  to  your 
self  in  behalf  of  Jefferson  Davis.  I  have  done  so  with  great  satis 
faction  ;  for  I  deem  his  very  long  confinement  in  prison,  without  a 
trial,  an  insult  to  the  south,  a  very  deep  injustice  to  himself,  and  a 
no  less  deep  dishonor  to  the  government  and  the  country. 

I  trust  that  Mr.  Davis  may  either  have  a  speedy  trial  or  be  ad 
mitted  to  bail.     There  are  many  men  who  have  no  sympathy  with 
his  political  views,  and  who  opposed  slavery  as  strenuously  as  he  up 
held  it,  that  would  eagerly  become  his  bail.     I  am  one  of  them. 
Your  obedient  servant, 

GERRIT  SMITH. 

This  was  strictly  in  accordance  with  the  belief  that 
none  of  the  leaders  of  the  Rebellion  could  be  legally 
punished  or  tried  for  treason.  The  acknowledgment  of 
the  state  of  war  took  them  out  of  the  category  of  con 
spirators  against  the  government,  and  ranked  them  with 
strangers  or  foreigners.  This  point  Mr.  Smith  had  ar 
gued  in  a  letter  to  Chief  Justice  Chase,  dated  May  28, 
1866,  wherein  he  fortified  his  position  by  the  authority 
of  Hallam,  Vattel,  Welcker,  Macaulay,  Lieber.  The 
position  was  natural  to  him.  His  religious,  moral  and 
personal  sentiments  enforced  it  upon  him.  The  law  of 
love  constrained  him,  so  that  he  could  not  have  done 
otherwise.  Horace  Greeley  was  notoriously  a  politician, 
and  therefore  exposed  to  the  suspicion  of  political  inten- 


THE  PEACE.  319 

tions.     But  both  men  were  notoriously  philanthropists, 
and  were  on  this  ground  unassailable. 

It  was  not  out  of  character  for  these  men  to  plead 
for  kindness  towards  "  Ku  Klux  "  prisoners,  as  the  let 
ters  which  follow,  written  at  the  suggestion  of  Mr. 
Greeley,  did. 

Long  Branch,  N.  J.,  July  28,  1872. 

Dear  Sir,  —  Your  letter  of  the  9th  inst.  in  relation  to  your  visit 
to  the  Ku  Klux  convicts  in  the  Albany  penitentiary  was  duly  re 
ceived.  I  should  have  acknowledged  the  receipt  of  it  and  of  the 
copy  or  copies  of  your  admirable  speech  to  your  neighbors  of  the 
22d  of  June,  earlier.  I  shall  send  your  letter  to  the  Attorney  Gen 
eral,  with  directions  to  send  some  one  to  Albany  to  visit  those  pris 
oners,  and  from  the  report  made,  together  with  the  testimony  against 
them,  in  his  possession,  submit  such  recommendation  in  regard  to 
them  as  he  may  think  proper.  Any  pardon  now  before  the  North 
Carolina  election,  would  be  misinterpreted.  I  therefore  should  not 
like  to  act  now.  But  if  any  innocent  persons  are  being  punished, 
or  any  whose  punishment  is  not  calculated  to  spare  innocent  persons 
for  the  future  from  the  acts  of  the  K.  Ks,  I  have  no  desire  to  keep 
them  longer  in  confinement. 

My  oft  expressed  desire  is  that  all  citizens,  white  or  black,  native 
or  foreign  born,  may  be  left  free  in  all  parts  of  our  common  country 
to  vote,  speak  or  act,  in  obedience  to  law,  without  intimidation  or 
ostracism  on  account  of  views,  color  or  nativity.  With  these  privi 
leges  secured,  there  is  no  particular  offence  that  I  would  not  advo 
cate  forgiveness  and  forgetfulness  of,  so  far  as  the  latter  is  possible. 

I  thank  you  very  kindly  for  giving  me  the  result  of  your  observa 
tions  during  your  visit  to  these  prisoners,  and  also  for  the  many 
kind  words  I  have  read  of  your  utterance  towards  my  official  acts. 
With  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

U.  S.  GRANT. 

Long  Branch,  N.  J.,  Aug.  26,  1872. 

Hon.  GERRIT  SMITH  : 

My  Dear  Sir,  —  I  received  your  letter  enclosing  applications 
for  the  pardon  of  the  Ku  Klux  prisoners,  and  have  handed  the  peti 
tion  to  the  Attorney  General,  who  is  daily  in  receipt  of  many  similar 
ones,  but  who  thinks,  with  you,  that  such  pardons  should  be  few 
and  far  between. 


320  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

Please  accept  my  thanks  for  your  kindness  and  thoughtfulness 
in  sending  copies  of  your  letter.  The  President  has  read,  with 
great  interest,  all  you  have  uttered  in  regard  to  the  present  cam 
paign,  and  has  been  deeply  touched  by  the  kind  mention  you  have 
made  of  him.  It  really  seems  now  that  honest  men  are  arranging 
themselves  on  one  side  and  knaves  on  the  other  ;  and  during  Gen. 
Grant's  next  four  years,  he  will  not  only  not  be  likely  to  appoint  any 
rascals  to  office,  but  none  of  them  will  have  sufficient  political  affili 
ation  with  him  to  be  in  a  condition  to  ask  him  for  office. 
Very  respectfully  and  truly  yours, 

HORACE  PORTER. 

The  note  that  follows  seems  to  be  in  reply  to  a 
letter  of  abuse  or  of  misconception  on  this  subject. 

Peterboro,  N.  Y.,  August  19,  1872. 

Dear  Sir,  —  This  evening's  mail  brings  me  your  letter  of  the 
I4th  inst.  So  far  from  my  believing  that  "  a  majority  of  the  Ku 
Klux  prisoners  now  confined  at  Albany  are  innocent  of  any  crime," 
I  do  not  believe  that  even  one  of  them  is  innocent.  I  take  it  for 
granted  that  they  all  had  fair  trials  and  were  justly  convicted. 

There  is  amongst  these  prisoners  a  youth  who,  because  he  is 
hopelessly  sick,  I  should  like  to  have  pardoned  ;  and  also  a  man  past 
middle  age  who,  because  of  his  weak  intellect,  I  would  commend 
to  the  President's  clemency.  There  is  also,  an  aged  man  who,  per 
haps,  but  only  perhaps,  should  be  left  in  prison  not  more  than  a 
year  or  two  longer. 

I  can  have  no  part  in  white-washing  Ku  Kluxism.  I  deem  it  the 
greatest  crime  on  earth,  and  the  party  that  upholds  it  or  is  identified 
with  it,  as  the  crudest  and  worst  party  on  earth. 

Respectfully  yours, 

GERRIT  SMITH. 

In  1854  Gerrit  Smith  had  favored  the  acquisition  of 
Cuba  as  a  part  of  the  United  States,  in  the  belief  that 
the  humanity  of  republican  institutions  would  redeem 
the  island  from  its  wretched  condition  under  the  Span 
ish  laws,  and  secure  the  emancipation  at  once  of  the 
whites  and  the  blacks.  In  1870,  when  the  question  of 
the  acquisition  of  San  Domingo  was  agitated,  his  views 


THE  PEACE.  321 

had  changed.  The  experience  of  fifteen  years,  especially 
the  exhibition  of  the  whites,  northern  and  southern, 
towards  the  blacks,  had  satisfied  him  that  the  rapacity 
of  the  whites  was  more  than  a  match  for  the  humanity 
of  republican  institutions,  and  that  no  good  to  the 
dwellers  in  the  tropics  would  come  from  the  annexation 
of  any  portion  of  them  to  the  United  States.  While 
he  had  no  prejudice  against  the  intermingling  of  blacks 
and  whites  and  saw  no  objections  to  it  in  the  nature  of 
things,  he  had  come  to  think  that  the  joint  partnership 
of  blacks  and  whites  in  the  same  soil,  and  their  joint 
possession  of  the  same  territory,  could  not  be  fortunate. 
The  blacks,  if  not  enslaved,  would  be  robbed,  plundered, 
crowded  out,  and  at  length  annihilated.  Their  only 
chance  for  such  existence  as  was  to  them  desirable,  lay 
in  their  having  to  themselves  the  climate  and  land  of 
the  tropics  where  they  lived  happily,  and  where  the 
white  races  could  not  live  at  all,  except  with  the  institu 
tion  of  slavery  to  supply  their  labor.  The  President's 
scheme  of  annexation  therefore  had  no  favor  in  his 
sight.  On  the  President's  patriotism  he  cast  no  reflec 
tion  ;  none  on  his  integrity  or  humanity.  That  he  was 
making  political  capital  or  seeking  party  diversion,  or 
playing  recklessly  the  game  of  empire  does  not  seem  to 
have  occurred  to  him.  *  He  may  have  thought  that  the 
President's  imagination  was  dazzled  by  visions  of  na 
tional  splendor  or  national  wealth,  but  that  he  would 
willingly  sacrifice  any  great  human  interest  was  far  from 
his  suspicion.  His  own  conviction  was  that  before  an 
nexing  new  territories  we  had  better  learn  to  establish 
equal  laws  over  what  we  had.  Expansion  northward 
might  be  well  enough  if  expansion  were  necessary,  be- 
14* 


322  LIFE    OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

cause  in  that  direction  there  was  legitimate  field  for  con 
quest  over  Nature  and  brute  mankind.  But  expansion 
southward  implied  the  annihilation  of  docile  races  and 
the  robbing  of  islands  which  Providence  has  destined  to 
be  homes  for  the  otherwise  harmless.  The  pity  for  the 
negro  is  still  uppermost  in  this  man's  heart.  No  national 
aggrandizement,  no  national  wealth  are  in  his  estimation 
sufficient  to  compensate  for  any  additional  wrong  done 
to  these  unfortunates. 

The  condition  of  the  blacks  in  the  United  States 
was  far  from  satisfactory,  and  excited  the  philanthropist's 
utmost  solicitude.  As  the  first  term  of  General  Grant's 
administration  drew  to  a  close  the  prospect  became  ap 
palling.  All  that  the  war  had  accomplished  seemed  to 
be  at  stake.  The  aspiration  to  power  of  the  democratic 
party  threatened  to  overturn  the  achievements  and  defeat 
the  hopes  of  the  abolitionists.  General  Grant,  it  was 
felt,  could  be  relied  on,  at  least  so  far  as  to  maintain  the 
ground  already  won,  and  to  prevent  the  undoing  of  the 
work  the  completion  whereof  was  his  title  to  renown. 
His  name  was  still  a  powerful  one  to  conjure  by.  No 
other  roused  enthusiasm  at  all,  and  it  must  be  under  his 
leadership  that  the  army  of  the  republic  must  still  move 
on,  if  victory  is  finally  to  perch  uopn  its  banners.  Gerrit 
Smith  threw  himself  with  his  usual  ardor  into  the  cam 
paign  for  Grant's  reelection,  deploring  and  resisting  all 
the  efforts  that  were  made  to  thwart  his  career,  more 
especially  the  efforts  of  the  independents  to  create  a 
diversion  in  favor  of  Mr.  Greeley,  which,  he  was  confi 
dent  could  not  succeed  as  a  separate  movement,  and 
must  strengthen  the  democrats  in  proportion  as  it  weak 
ened  the  republicans. 


THE  PEACE.  323 

In  judging  the  conduct  of  Gerrit  Smith  during  the 
years  1871   and   1872,  it  is  but  fair  to  bear  in  mind  the 
natural  working  of  his  disposition,  as  illustrated  in  the 
"eccentricities"  as  they  were  called,  of  his  earlier  career. 
He  was  a  man  of  feeling,  and  consequently  not  amena 
ble  to  the  rules  of  ordinary  consistency.     His  guide  was 
moral  conviction  which  men  of  his  school  dignified  by 
the  title  of  "  natural  instincts."     He  said  and  did  things 
in  perfect  honesty  and   good  will,  unconscious  of  their 
effect  on  others,  and  careless  of  their  inconsistency  with 
the  act  of  his  previous  career.     He  was  not  stupid ;   he 
was  not  deceitful ;   he  was  not  vacillating.     He  was  sim 
ply  self-assured.     And  his  self-assurance  proceeded  from 
that  reliance    on    the   "  moral  sense "   which  gives    its 
possessor  the  much  overrated,  much  abused  prerogative 
of  prophecy.      He  was  never  a  party-man  ;   never  re 
mained  long  in  any  party;   never  would  be  bound  by 
party  nominations ;   always  felt  at  liberty  to  adopt  and 
support  any  candidate  who  represented  his  idea,  whether 
set  up  by  one  party  or  another.     Thus,  in   1868,  he   an 
nounced  his  intention  of  voting   for  S.  P.  Chase,  should 
the  democratic  party  give  him  the  nomination,  conclud 
ing  that  the  candidate  in  that  instance  committed  the 
party  which  set  him  up.     In  1872  he  refused  to  follow 
Sumner,  Schurz  and  Greeley,  because  they  would  help 
indirectly  the   success   of  the  democratic  party,  which 
they  abhorred  as  much  as  he  did.     The   press  charged 
him   with   inconsistency,  and  tauntingly  magnified   the 
grandeur  of  the   intellect  that  could  rise  so  superior  to 
the  vice  of  small  minds.     But  he  saw  no   inconsistency, 
and  for  him  there  was  none.     In  1868  he  was  persuaded 
that  moral  causes  were  disintegrating  party  combinations 


324  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

to  such  a  degree  that  the  entire  conversion  of  the  dem 
ocrats  was  not  too  strange  an  occurrence  to  be  looked 
for.  He  would  have  hailed  the  nomination  of  Chase  as 
conclusive  evidence  of  a  change  of  heart.  In  1872  this 
illusion  had  been  dispelled,  and  the  democrats,  though 
placing  a  saint's  name  on  their  banner,  would  have  been 
distrusted. 

"  May  not  the  democratic  party  be  allowed  to  put  up  and  vote  for 
republicans?  Yes.  But  republicans  should,  as  a  general  thing, 
pause  long  before  voting  for  them.  But  suppose  that  party  puts  up 
for  president  so  pronounced  and  eminent  a  republican  as  Horace 
Greeley — cannot  republicans  consistently  vote  for  him  ?  Certainly 
not.  For  his  election  would  as  surely  be  the  success  of  the  demo 
cratic  party  as  the  election  of  President  Grant  will  be  the  success  of 
the  republican  party.  The  election  of  Mr.  Greeley  will  not  turn  the 
democratic  party  into  a  republican  party,  but  it  will  turn  him  into  a 
democrat — not,  I  trust,  into  one  of  the  worst  type — but  still  into  a 
democrat.  Mr.  Greeley's  election  would  not  assimilate  the  demo 
cratic  party  to  him,  but  him  to  it.  So  it  has  ever  been  in  such  cases 
— and  how,  with  his  kindly  and  obliging  spirit,  can  he  prove  an  ex 
ception  ?  .  .  .  But  what  if  Mr.  Greeley  should  notwithstanding 
his  candidacy  and  election,  remain  miraculously  unchanged?  It 
does  not  follow  that  his  election  would  not  be  the  success  of  the 
democratic  party.  The  President  is  not  all  the  government.  Con 
gress  is  far  more  nearly  all  of  it :  and  Mr.  Greeley's  election  would 
be  quite  likely  to  result  in  a  democratic  Congress.  ...  As  the 
candidate  for  however  high  an  office  at  the  hands  of  the  republican 
party.  I  would  readily  have  voted  for  Mr.  Greeley.  I  only  lament 
that  he  should  have  sought  his  honors  by  lending  his  name  and  in 
fluence  to  the  democratic  party,  and  by  damaging  and  endangering 
that  other  party  which  he  had  loved  so  long  and  so  well." 

Mr.  Sumner's  quarrel  with  the  President  implicated 
Gerrit  Smith  at  the  very  beginning.  Constitutionally 
unable  to  suspect  evil  of  any,  constitutionally  inclined  to 
think  the  best  of  all,  having  before  him  the  one  invalua 
ble  service  which  General  Grant  had  rendered  to  the 
country  in  compelling  the  surrender  of  General  Lee,  full 


THE   PEACE.  325 

of  the  conviction  that  he  and  he  only  could  maintain 
the  supremacy  of  the  republic  over  the  oligarchy  in 
which  lay  the  moral  triumph  of  the  north  over  the  south, 
and  persuaded,  that  whatever  Grant's  personal  deficien 
cies  might  be,  he  was  sincerely  loyal  to  the  cause  he  had 
led  to  final  victory;  in  a  word,  having  his  heart  fixed  on 
a  single  issue,  and  being  certain  that  this  issue  was  pos 
sible  in  but  one  way,  what  Mr.  Sumner  said,  though  he 
could  not  answer  it,  made  no  impression  on  his  mind 
that  remained  when  the  weight  of  his  friend's  hand  was 
withdrawn. 

He  honored  Mr.  Sumner,  respected  him,  loved  him ; 
never  imputed  unworthy  sentiments  or  motives  to  him, 
never  believed  him  to  be  actuated  by  private  animosities 
or  moved  by  personal  ambition,  had  no  sympathy  with 
the  partisans  who  ascribed  his  invectives  to  jealousy  or 
pique  or  base  detraction,  and  explained  the  mutual  re 
pulsion  between  him  and  the  President  by  the  natural 
antipathy  between  two  men  so  differently  endowed,  nur 
tured,  trained  and  dealt  with  ;  so  unlike  in  temperament, 
capacity,  taste  and  purpose ;  so  dissimilar  as  to  be  pre 
cisely  the  opposites  of  each  other,  and  standing  more 
sharply  over  against  one  another  as  years  and  experi 
ence,  conflict  and  struggle,  disappointment  and  success 
brought  their  characteristic  traits  into  relief,  and  threw 
out  the  craggy  masses  above  the  stormy  waters  of  cir 
cumstance.  During  the  war  General  Grant  had  shown 
the  qualities  of  the  soldier,  which  military  life  fostered, 
and  none  could  foresee  what  qualities  latent  so  far  in  him, 
civil  life  might  develop.  For  twenty  years  Charles  Sum 
ner  had  been  piling  up  the  massive  structure  of  moral 
will,  until  at  length  he  had  become  the  embodiment  of 


326  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

intellectual  purpose,  straight,  uncompromising,  unsympa 
thetic,  ponderous,  stately  and  impressive,  but  forbidding. 
Even  his  admirers  looked  on  him  with  awe.  His  dislikers, 
who  were  many,  accused  him  of  arrogance,  intolerant  and 
intolerable.  His  egotism  was  of  the  kind  most  offensive 
to  cold  natures  and  most  easily  offended  by  coarse  ones. 
Sumner  and  Smith  were  warm  friends  of  many  years. 
Though  in  nearly  every  respect  unlike,  in  every  respect, 
excepting  their  devotion  to  the  slave,  they  met  cor 
dially  at  this  central  point  of  sympathy,  the  hopeful 
enthusiasm  of  the  one  happily  contrasting  with  the  un 
bending  integrity  of  the  other.  Sumner  had  borne  hon 
orable  testimony  to  the  value  of  Smith's  service  in  Con 
gress,  and  Smith  had  written  from  Washington  to 
Frederick  Douglass,  in  1854,  "  Sumner  is  as  guileless  and 
ingenuous  as  a  child,  and  hence  my  astonishment  at  the 
base  and  ferocious  feeling  manifested  toward  him  at  one 
period  of  the  session.  Chase  and  Sumner  are  gentle 
men — Christian  gentlemen.  Great  is  my  love  of  them  ; 
and  were  I  to  add  '  passing  the  love  of  women  '  I  should 
not  be  guilty  of  great  extravagance."  The  hospitality 
of  Peterboro  had  been  repeatedly  pressed  on  the  Massa 
chusetts  senator,  and,  once  had  been  accepted,  in  what 
spirit  the  following  note  of  acknowledgment  gives 
evidence. 

Private.  Senate  Chamber,  -jth  December,  '70. 

My  Dear  Friend —  I  think  often  of  the  pleasant  Sunday  I  passed 
under  your  roof. 

What  you  told  me  of  your  son  interested  me  much.  I  wish  that 
he  could  be  encouraged  to  persevere  and  apply  his  rare  gifts  to  that 
branch  of  science  for  which  he  has  shown  such  attachment.  In  this 
way  he  can  do  much  to  acquire  a  good  renown. 

Can  you  not  help  the  colored  people  in  Hayti  ?     The  Minister  of 


THE  PEACE.  327 

the  Black  Republic  is  much  disturbed  by  the  attempts  of  our  gov 
ernment  to  establish  itself  on  their  island.  The  persistence  of  the 
President  must  be  encountered.  Will  you  not  write  one  of  your 
letters  or  make  an  appeal  for  the  colored  race  ?  Let  us  hear 
from  you. 

Ever  sincerely  yours, 

CHARLES  SUMNER. 

In  August  1871,  Gerrit  Smith  printed  a  "  broadside  " 
entitled  "  The  anti-Dramshop  Party,"  calling  on  its 
members  for  fidelity  to  its  name  and  principles,  urging 
the  claims  of  the  temperance  cause  and  the  necessity  of 
enlisting  political  forces  on  its  side.  In  his  argument, 
he  criticised  the  attitude  of  the  republican  party  as  a 
party  of  progress  in  reform.  He  says  : 

"  It  is  but  too  probable  that  the  republican  party  will  sink  down 
into  a  low  chase  with  the  democratic  party  after  votes.  So  far  from 
going  forward,  and  making  itself  more  and  more  a  reform  party,  its 
murmurings  against  President  Grant  and  frequent  signs  of  disaffec 
tion  toward  him  reveal  its  declining  appreciation  of  even  those 
great  moral  ideas  it  had  already  espoused.  For  to  which  of  the 
grand  undertakings  and  precious  interests  of  the  republican  party, 
at  the  time  of  his  election,  has  he  been  found  unfaithful?  To  not 
one  of  them.  Identified,  therefore,  as  he  is,  with  them  all,  and  the 
most  prominent  upholder  of  them  all  every  one  of  them  is  necessa 
rily  disparaged  when  he  is  traduced  or  undervalued.  For  the  re 
publican  party  to  turn  its  back  upon  President  Grant  is  to  turn  its 
back  upon  its  honorable  past — upon  the  past  of  its  better  and  more 
patriotic  days.  He  remains  the  same  man  he  was  in  those  days. 
He  has  proved  himself  to  be  free  from  the  accursed  spirit  of  caste, 
and  true  to  the  equal  rights  of  all  men — of  the  red  man  and  black 
man  as  well  as  the  white  man.  He  has  deferred  to  the  popular  will, 
instead  of  moulding  and  fostering  a  policy  of  his  own.  He  has 
proved,  with  what  entire  sincerity  it  was  that,  in  entering  upon  its 
office,  he  expressed  his  desire  for  peace.  The  late  treaty  between 
England  and  America  in  the  credit  of  which  he  shares  so  largely, 
is  the  grandest  and  most  auspicious  peace  measure  the  world  has 
ever  seen.  The  rapidity  with  which  we  are  paying  our  national 
debt  is  a  high  proof  of  his  wisdom  and  honesty.  And  yet,  such  a 


328  LIFE   OF  G ERR  IT  SMITH. 

President,  no  very  small  share  of  the  republican  party — certainly  no 
very  small  share  of  its  leaders — seem  willing  to  drop  !  We  hear 
them  say  that  General  Grant  cannot  be  re-elected.  But  if  he,  who 
confessedly,  did  more  than  any  other  man  to  save  our  country  in  the 
perils  of  war,  and  whose  great  influence  in  peace  has  all  gone  to 
make  that  peace  more  perfect  and  more  blessed,  cannot  be  made  our 
next  President,  what  republican  can  bef  Manifestly,  either  he  or 
the  democratic  candidate  will  be  our  next  President;  and  if  the 
democratic  candidate  shall  be,  and  shall  represent  and  be  a  specimen 
of  the  bad,  very  bad  democratic  party,  what  then  can  save  our 
country  from  ruin  ?  " 

The  italics  in  the  above  passage  are  Mr.  Sumner's  ; 
he  underlined  the  words,  marked  on  the  margin  of  the 
paper  expressions  of  surprise  or  protest,  and  enclosed 
the  sheet  to  the  author.  The  ensuing  letters  came 
immediately. 

Private.  Nahant,  Mass.,  zoth  Aug.  '71. 

My  Dear  Friend,  —  Your  note  and  its  enclosure  reached  me  at 
this  retreat  where  I  am  with  my  friend  Longfellow.  I  regret  much 
that  I  cannot  see  the  Presidential  question  as  you  see  it. 

I  know  few  politicians  who  think  that  Grant  can  be  re-elected. 
Greeley  told  me  last  week  that  he  looked  upon  his  defeat  as  inevita 
ble,  and  Forney,  who  is  friendly  to  him  and  has  just  accepted  the 
collectorship  of  Philadelphia,  told  me  that  he  did  not  see  how  he 
could  be  re-elected,  although  he  thought  he  would  obtain  the  nomi 
nation  ; — to  which  I  replied  that  he  would  not  be  renominated  if  it 
appeared  that  he  could  not  be  re-elected. 

Therefore  when  you  ask  me  to  withdraw  opposition  to  Grant,  you 
ask  me  to  aid  in  the  defeat  of  the  republican  party.  I  have  too 
much  interest  in  this  party  to  do  any  such  thing. 

But  waiving  the  question  of  his  success — he  does  not  deserve  the 
nomination.  "  One  term  "  is  enough  for  any  body — especially  for 
one  who,  being  tried,  is  found  so  incapable — so  personal — so  selfish 
— so  vindictive, — and  so  entirely  pre-occupied  by  himself.  All  who 
have  known  him  best  testify  to  his  incapacity.  Don't  forget  Stan- 
ton's  judgment. 

It  is  hard  to  see  the  Ku  Klux  raging,  and  a  good  people  dying 
through  his  luke-warmness  and  indifference.  It  is  my  solemn  judg 
ment,  which  at  the  proper  time  I  shall  declare,  thai  the  much  criti- 


THE  PEACE.  329 

cised  legislation  of  the  last  Congress  would  have  been  entirely  un 
necessary,  if  this  republican  President  had  shown  a  decent  energy  in 
enforcing  existing  laws  and  in  manifesting  sympathy  with  the  op 
pressed  there.  On  him  is  that  innocent  blood,  which  flowed  while 
he  circulated  at  entertainments,  excursions,  horse-races.  Instead 
of  being  at  Long  Branch,  a  good  President  would  have  been  at  Sa 
vannah,  and  Mobile,  or  at  least  he  would  have  made  himself  felt  in 
those  places. 

Consider  then,  the  insincerity  of  his  message  about  St.  Domingo. 
One  million  of  blacks  are  now  kept  in  anxiety  and  terror  by  the 
republican  President,  whom  you  hail  as  representing  "  moral  ideas  !  " 
Instead  of  abandoning  his  ill-omened  scheme,  he  is  now  pressing  it 
— working  at  home,  like  Hamlet's  ghost,  under  ground  and  at  the 
island  with  a  most  expensive  fleet.  His  war-dance  about  the  island 
has  cost  several  millions.  Instead  of  making  peace  between  the  two 
contending  parties,  and  setting  each  on  its  legs,  in  the  spirit  of  dis 
interested  benevolence,  he  sends  money  to  Baez  under  pretence  of  a 
sham  treaty,  to  keep  alive  civil  war.  Nothing  has  aroused  me  more 
since  the  Fugitive  Slave  Bill  and  the  outrages  in  Kansas.  The 
same  old  spirit  is  revived  in  the  treatment  of  the  Haytien  Republic. 

And  I  am  asked  to  help  the  re-nomination  of  such  a  man.  Im 
possible  !  I  love  the  republican  party — love  my  country  too  well  to 
have  a  hand  in  such  a  thing. 

In  these  conclusions  I  am  governed  by  no  personal  feelings— 
more  than  I  had  to  Franklin  Pierce  or  James  Buchanan  !  How  can 
I,  an  old  public  servant,  devoted  to  a  cause,  turn  aside  on  any  per 
sonal  feeling?  No,  my  dear  friend,  I  write  in  sadness  and  sincerity, 
hoping  yet  to  do  something  by  which  the  cause  of  our  country  shall 
be  saved.  Think  of  five  years  under  his  vindictive  imperialism  ! 
Surely  you  must  hesitate. 

Grant  is  full  of  personal  enmities.  He  has  quarrelled  with  two 
members  of  his  cabinet — a  minister  to  England — a  chairman  of  a 
senate  committee — one  or  two  of  the  diplomatic  corps — the  governor 
of  a  territory — and  numerous  others,  all  good  and  faithful  repub 
licans  or  friendly  to  him.  I  was  always  his  true  friend — never  breath 
ing  a  word  except  in  kindness  and  respect — anxious  for  the  welfare 
of  his  administration — and  yet  when  I  felt  it  my  duty  to  oppose  his 
St.  Domingo  scheme,  always  without  one  word  of  allusion  to  him, 
he  was  moved  to  vindictiveness.  Ask  any  member  of  the  committee 
or  any  senator,  if  in  the  debate  of  the  committee  on  extra  service  I 
made  any  allusion  to  him,  except  to  express  a  regret  that  he  had  en 
tered  upon  this  mistaken  policy.  And  yet  the  vengeance  came. 


33°  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

Afterwards  when  he  still  persevered,  I  felt  it  my  duty  to  arraign 
him  openly.  Had  I  been  a  representative  I  should  have  felt  it  my  duty 
to  move  his  impeachment.  I  shall  be  astonished  if  at  the  next  session 
his  impeachment  is  not  moved.  His  chance  of  impeachment  is  bet 
ter  than  that  of  reelection.  Why,  then,  press  him  for  candidate  ? 
Unquestionably  the  hardest  possible  to  elect — and  unquestionably 
the  poorest  calling  himself  republican  !  There  are  forty  good  repub 
licans  in  the  Union,  any  one  of  whom  can  be  nominated  without 
hazard  to  the  party,  and,  when  elected  will  be  a  better  president.  So 
I  believe  on  my  conscience,  and  on  this  belief  I  must  act.  At  proper 
time  I  shall  communicate  Mr.  Stanton's  and  my  judgment. 

Ever  sincerely  yours. 

CHARLES  SUMNER. 

Hon.  CHARLES  SUMNER  :  Peterboro,  Aug.  33, 1871. 

My  Dear  Friend  —  I  thank  you  for  your  long,  frank  and  friendly 
letter.  I  thank  you  also  for  the  printed  sheets  you  have  recently 
sent  to  me. 

We  have  both  the  same  paramount  object  in  view — viz.,  the  pre 
clusion  of  a  democrat  from  the  presidency.  You  are  certain  that 
this  cannot  be  accomplished  by  the  nomination  of  Grant :  and  I  own 
that  your  letter  makes  me  less  confident  that  it  can  by  this  means. 
I  must  still  think,  however,  that  if  his  nomination  would  not  have 
this  effect,  no  nomination  would.  I  must  still  think  that  more  per 
sons  could  be  brought  to  acquiesce  in  his  nomination  than  in  Gree- 
ley's,  or  Trumbull's  or  your  or  any  other  person's  nomination.  The 
republican  party  unhappily  seems  to  be  breaking  up.  I  fear  that 
there  is  no  one  man  for  whom  the  whole  party  will  go. 

President  Grant  is  certainly  very  far  from  faultless.  And  yet,  in 
the  light  of  his  successful  leadership  of  our  armies,  but  little  account 
should  be  made  of  most  of  his  faults. 

You  and  Schurz  and  Morrill  showed  the  error  of  his  scheme  of 
annexation,  and  of,  at  least,  a  part  of  the  means  by  which  he  sought 
to  accomplish  it.  But  I  am  not  sure  that,  in  all  this,  he  was  guilty 
of  anything  worse  than  a  mistaken  judgment.  A  mistaken  judg 
ment  will  probably  account  for  his  other  missteps.  I  hope  that  you 
do  not  give  credit  to  the  story  of  his  having  three  hundred  thousand 
dollars  in  blooded  stock.  I  hope,  indeed,  that  you  do  not  doubt  his 
honesty  in  money  matters. 

I  remember  your  telling  me  of  Stanton's  bad  opinions  of  Grant. 
But  Stanton  was  sick  when  he  expressed  them — and  they  were,  at 
the  most,  but  the  opinions  of  one  man. 


THE  PEACE.  331 

With  your  very  unfavorable,  I  trust  too  unfavorable,  view  of 
Grant,  I  cannot  ask  you  to  vote  for  him,  nor  even  to  forbear  voting 
against  him. 

God  bless  you,  my  dear  friend  !  May  your  wisdom,  integrity 
and  eloquence  long  continue  to  serve  your  still  deeply  imperilled 
country ! 

My  kind  regards  to  Mr.  Longfellow,  and  my  repeated  thanks  to 
him  for  the  youthful  and  beautiful  likeness  of  yourself  which  he  so 
kindly  sent  me,  several  years  ago. 

With  love  as  well  as  esteem, 

Your  friend, 

GERRIT  SMITH. 

Private.  Nahant,  a8th  Aug.  '71. 

My  Dear  Friend,  —  I  am  happy  that  you  do  not  take  unkindly 
my  very  positive  difference  from  yourself  on  an  important  question. 

The  more  I  reflect  on  the  question,  the  more  I  am  distressed  for 
my  country  and  the  republican  party  at  the  idea  of  Grant's  re-nomi 
nation.  We  could  better  have  lost  one  of  his  bloody  victories.  His 
rule  for  the  second  term  would  be  the  imperialism  of  selfishness 
and  vindictiveness, — without  moral  sense,  without  ideas,  without 
knowledge. 

I  think  you  will  admit  that  he  is  the  lowest  President,  whether 
intellectually  or  morally,  we  have  ever  had.  Undoubtedly  he  is  the 
richest  since  Washington,  although  he  was  very  poor  at  the  begin 
ning  of  the  war. 

Mr.  Stanton's  judgment  of  hun  was  positive  and  given  under 
circumstances  of  singular  solemnity,  and  the  same  thing  he  said  at 
great  length  and  with  much  detail  to  Mr.  Hooper  some  months  be 
fore.  He  said  that  he  knew  Grant  better  than  any  other  man  or  the 
country  could  know  him — that  it  was  his  duty  to  study  him,  and  he 
did  study  him  night  and  day, — when  he  saw  and  when  he  did  not 
see  him  he  then  declared  his  utter  incapacity.  And  you  are  election 
eering  for  this  person's  re-election  ! 

Think  of  his  vindictive  quarrels,  since  he  has  been  President. 
God  does  not  quarrel.  What  right  has  the  President  of  the  United 
States  to  quarrel  and  pursue  supporters  with  vindictive  hate  ? 

Do  not  charge  me  with  personal  feelings.  My  life  is  my  witness, 
I  am  an  old  servant,  who  has  always  thought  of  the  cause  and  of 
my  country  ;  never  have  I  sought  any  thing  for  myself.  I  have  sim 
ply  worked  and  served.  I  was  so  doing  when  I  felt  it  my  duty  to 
oppose  what  seemed  to  me  a  mistaken  policy  of  the  President  \-~ 


332  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

never  in  my  life  did  I  act  more  simply  and  sincerely.  I  could  not 
have  done  otherwise  without  failing  in  my  duty.  Then  came  at 
tacks,  and  all  that  a  small  nature  surrounded  and  prompted  by 
small  men,  Could  do  !  Such  a  man  President  for  a  second  term, 
God  forbid  ! 

Is  not  the  course  for  us  plain  ? 

(1)  Do  not  nominate  a  man  with  a  mill-stone  about  his  neck. 

(2)  Find  somebody  whose  capacity  is  above  question. 

^3)  Somebody  who  will  not  insult  and  quarrel  with  his  sup 
porters. 

(4)  Somebody  who  can  surely  be  elected. 

(5)  Somebody  whose  election  will  not  be  a  real  defeat. 

(6)  Somebody  who  will  elevate    politics,  instead   of  degrading 
them. 

(7)  Somebody  who  will  scorn  to  use  patronage  for  the  subjuga 
tion  of  Congress  to  his  personal  will. 

Ever  sincerely  yours, 

CHARLES  SUMNER. 

How  any  colored  person  can  support  the  man  who  offers  indig 
nity  to  the  Black  Republic,  I  cannot  understand.  The  ablest  col 
ored  man  in  Massachusetts  declares  his  indignant  disgust  at  him. 
At  the  proper  time,  I  shall  appeal  to  the  colored  voters  to  reject  him. 

Peterboro,  August  31, 1871. 

Hon.  CHAS.  SUMMER  : 

My  Dear  Friend,  —  I  have  yours  of  28th  ult.  You  are  happy 
to  find  that  I  take  your  words  kirMly.  Why  should  I  not,  when  I 
know  that  they  all  proceed  from  oeep  convictions  and  an  honest 
heart  ? 

The  idea  of  Grant's  renomination  would  be  as  painful  to  me  as 
it  is  to  you,  if  I  held  your  exceedingly  unfavorable  opinions  of  him. 
Your  long  continued  and  intense  brooding  over  his  faults  has  trans 
formed  him  into  a  weak-brained  monster.  You  put  him  "  intellect 
ually  "and  "  morally  "  below  all  our  former  Presidents — intellectually 
below  the  garrulous  Harrison,  and  morally  below  the  infernally 
pro-slavery  Pierce  ! 

Grant  is  not  an  educated  statesman.  But  when,  a  few  years 
ago,  I  read  in  the  public  letters  of  Sherman  and  Sheridan  their  high 
praises  of  his  ability  as  a  general,  I  could  not  doubt  that  he  was  a 
man  of  superior  intellect.  I  felt  that  he  was  great,  not  alone  by  the 
accidents  and  good  fortune  of  war,  but  also  by  his  intrinsic  merits. 
Then  as  to  his  morality,  I  do  not  suppose  that  he  is  a  saint — but  I 


THE  PEACE.  333 

certainly  lack  evidence  that  he  is  a  corrupt  man.  He  could  be  guilty 
of  all  his  errors  in  the  annexation  matter,  and  yet  not  be  corrupt. 
In  receiving  his  rich  presents,  in  his  nepotism  and  bad  appointments 
to  office,  he  was  not  necessarily  corrupt. 

It  was  not  necessary  for  you  to  vindicate  yourself  to  me.  You 
have  lived  for  your  country  and  for  all  mankind — and  I  thank  God 
that  he  made  you  capable  of  doing  this  with  such  eminent  (can  I  not 
truly  say  preeminent}  efficiency. 

I  see  that  you  continue  to  make  great  (too  great)  account  of  Mr. 
Stanton's  condemnation  of  Grant. 

The  seven  requirements  with  which  you  close  your  letter  are,  I 
admit,  well  put  and  very  imposing.  The  fourth  requirement  is  to 
nominate  "  somebody  who  can  surely^  elected."  I  apprehend  that 
this  cannot  be  done.  All  we  can  do  is  to  nominate  some  decent 
somebody  who  will  stand  the  best  chance  of  being  elected.  I  am 
aware  that  you  do  not  let  Grant  come  into  the  category  of  decent 
somebodies— but  just  here,  you  are  at  war  with  the  judgment  of 
the  world.  I  wish  that  you  or  our  old  friend  Chase  could  be  our 
next  president — but,  as  yet,  the  popular  current  does  not  run  strong 
enough  for  such  pronounced  abolitionists  to  bring  that  about. 

You  say  that  I  am  "electioneering"  for  Grant — I  answer  that  I 
am  too  old  (seventy-four)  to  electioneer  for  any  one.  All  I  have 
said  or  done  for  him  is  to  be  found  in  the  few  words  in  my  paper  on 
the  dramshop.  I  repeat  it — my  concern  is  not  to  elect  Grant,  but 
to  keep  out  a  democrat.  You  and  I  do  not  count  Chase  among 
democrats. 

With  the  highest  regard, 

Your  friend  forever, 

GERRIT  SMITH. 

Nahant,  3d  Sept.,  V- 

My  Dear  Friend —  I  know  not  why  my  opinions  expressed  in 
answer  to  an  appeal  from  you  should  be  characterized  as  proceeding 
from  "  long  continued  and  intense  brooding  over  his  (Grant's) 
faults."  You  asked  me  to  abandon  an  opposition  to  which  I  have 
been  driven  by  solemn  conviction  or  knowledge  with  constant  op 
portunities  of  information,  and  when  I  ventured  to  assign  reasons 
for  these  opinions  you  attribute  them  to  "  long-continued  and  intense 
brooding."  Here  you  do  me  injustice.  My  opinions  are  honestly 
formed — on  my  conscience — and  communicated  to  you  only  in  reply 
to  your  appeal.  Had  you  not  written  to  me  on  the  subject  be  as 
sured  I  should  have  said  nothing  about  it. 


334  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

I  am  here  with  friends  seeking  repose,  and,  in  such  time  as  I 
can  command,  reviewing  the  history  of  our  Anti-slavery  struggle, 
thinking  little  of  count,  except  when  my  opinion  is  challenged, 
as  by  yourself.  If  I  am  "brooding"  it  is  on  our  great  battle 
where  you  did  so  much,  and  revising  my  own  humble  contribu 
tions  to  it. 

You  think  Grant  cannot  be  below  the  "infernally  pro-slavery 
Pierce  ?  "  Why  not  ?  Was  he  not  in  the  time  of  Pierce  just  as  "  in 
fernally  pro-slaver)',"  and  has  he  not  done  things  worse  than  any 
attributed  to  Pierce  ? 

I  say  nothing  of  him  as  a  military  character.  I  leave  that  to 
others.  How  rarely  in  history  has  a  good  general  been  a  good 
statesman  !  See  Buckle. 

As  for  "  morals,"  all  his  thoughts,  ideas  and  sentiments  are  on  a 
low  plane — lower  than  any  president  before  has  reached. 

You  inquire  if  he  is  "  corrupt."  I  have  never  said  anything  on 
this  head.  You  know  well  that  he  does  not  hesitate  to  buy  men  by 
office,  as  no  other  president  has  done ;  nor  does  he  hesitate  to  re 
ceive  "gifts  !  " 

You  discard  the  testimony  of  Stanton,  who  had  the  best  oppor 
tunity  of  knowing  Grant,  and  you  discard  mine,  although  I  have  had 
some  opportunity.  Whose  will  you  take  ?  Will  you  name  any  per 
son,  not  an  actual  present  member  of  his  cabinet,  whose  judgment 
or  testimony  is  of  any  weight.  Ask  Chase,  who  knows  him  well. 
He  will  speak  to  you  of  his  incompetency.  Unhappily  this  incom- 
petency  runs  into  the  moral  region. 

And  yet  you  not  only  become  his  partisan,  but  rebuke  me,  in  my 
seclusion,  because  I  frankly  confess  that  I  cannot  see  the  idol  as 
yen  see  it. 

I  tremble  for  my  country  at  the  thought  of  a  second  term  by  this 
vindictive  selfish  personality.  I  tremble  for  the  African,  whose  Hay- 
tien  relatives  he  keeps  in  distress,  like  another  Kansas  plagued  by 
another  Pierce  !  Never  since  those  Kansas  days  has  my  soul  been 
so  tried  as  by  his  conduct  to  Hayti.  To  me  it  is  heart-rending. 
The  tears  flow  at  the  thought  of  it.  And  yet  YOU  sustain  the 
author  of  this  distress. 

When  the  presidential  contest  came  on,  Mr.  Smith 
took  the  field  for  Grant,  and,  in  explanation  of  Mr.  Sum- 
ner's  opposition,  laid  stress  on  the  contrast  between  the 
two  men  in  point  of  birth,  education  and  character.  Mr. 


THE  PEACE.  335 

Sumner,  meeting  with  a  version  of  his  remarks  in  a 
western  paper  hostile  to  himself,  addressed  to  him  the 
following  sharp  letter. 

Washington,  gth  July,  '72. 

Dear  Mr.  Smith  —  You  supposed  that  I  should  call  your  re 
marks  unjust  ?  Did  you  not  feel  that  they  were  unjust  ? 

I  write  for  no  controversy.  You  make  a  personal  assault  on  me 
and  charge  me  with  personal  motives — forgetting  the  elaborate  con 
versations  at  your  house  and  afterwards  at  my  own,  where  I  disclosed 
to  you  my  deep  sense  of  General  Grant's  unfitness  and  the  extent 
to  which  my  conscience  had  been  shocked  by  his  conduct.  You  for 
get  how  I  unfolded  to  you  my  interest  in  Hayti  afifid  her  struggling 
people,  which  I  was  taught  in  childhood  to  cherish,  and  how  happy 
I  was  in  carrying  through  the  act  acknowledging  the  independence 
of  the  Black  Republic — how  from  that  time  I  watched  its  fortunes 
and  tried  to  serve  it — how,  when  I  became  aware  of  the  utterly 
heartless  and  insensate  conduct  of  Grant  to  that  people,  I  was  in 
dignant,  as  when  Kansas  was  assailed,  the  case  being  as  bad  as  that 
of  Kansas — you  forget  how  sympathetically  you  listened  then  ;  and 
when  acting  simply  according  to  these  convictions,  hoping  to  do 
something  for  my  country,  you  assail  me  by  substituting  personal 
motives  for  that  honest  judgment  which  on  my  conscience  I  was 
obliged  to  give.  I  never  deserved  your  sympathy  and  support  more 
than  now,  and  never  in  the  course  of  a  life  which  has  had  your  praise, 
was  I  more  sincere  and  simple  in  the  discharge  of  my  duty. 

In  sustaining  your  allegation  of  personal  "  dislike,"  you  are 
pleased  to  invent  with  regard  to  my  early  life.  If  you  will  kindly 
ask  any  body  familiar  with  it,  you  will  see  how  imaginative  you  have 
been.  But  I  am  at  a  loss  to  understand  what  my  early  life  has  to 
do  with  this. 

I  never  disliked  Grant.  When  you  allege  that  you  again  invent. 
On  the  contrary  I  was  his  sincere  friend  and  supporter  until  I  became 
aware  of  his  course  in  Hayti,  and  the  more  I  think  of  that,  the  more 
utterly  indefensible  it  appears.  It  is  revolting — so  I  see  it,  and  for 
this  reason  I  began  to  judge  him. 

Is  it  just,  when  these  things  were  known  to  you,  that  you  should 
hunt  for  personal  motives  ?  I  deny  the  whole  imputation,  in  gross 
and  detail. 

Would  it  not  have  been  more  candid,  more  in  accordance  with 
the  friendship  which  I  had  supposed  safe  against  decay  so  long  as 


LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

life  lasted,  for  you  to  have  recognized  the  strength  of  my  convictions, 
and  not  questioned  their  honesty  or  sought  to  weaken  them  by  in 
vention  about  my  early  life  ? 

I  believe  Grant  essentially  unjust,  and  I  am  sorry  to  see  that  his 
defenders  seem  inspired  by  his  character.  This  is  natural. 

I  send  you  a  speech  marked,  and  ask  if  you  are  just  to  me  with 
regard  to  the  Douglass  incident.  It  was  because  Douglass  had  re 
ceived  indignity  on  board  the  boat,  that  the  neglect  of  the  president 
became  conspicuous.  You  say  "certain  it  is  that  Mr.  Douglass  is 
insensible  of  /'/."  Believe  me  I  did  not  refer  to  this  incident  until 
Mr.  Douglass  in  my  own  house,  a  fortnight  before  the  speech,  had 
complained  of  it. 

You  are  mistaken  about  Mr.  Stanton.  I  have  abundance  of  con 
curring  testimony.  His  most  intimate  friend  during  the  latter  months 
of  his  life.  Mr.  Hooper,  confirms  it  fully,  and  so  do  many  others. 
And  why  should  it  not  be  known  ?  I  am  in  earnest.  I  wished  to 
save  the  republican  party  from  the  infliction  of  a  second  term,  and 
what  I  said  was  true. 

In  defending  his  gift-taking,  you  forget  that  it  is  "gift-taking 
compensated  by  office  "  which  is  the  unprecedented  offense. 

I  have  before  me  your  letters  of  last  autumn,  very  different  from 
the  assault  you  now  make,  where  you  say  in  reply  to  my  frank  state 
ments  that  you  "know  that  they  all  proceed  from  deep  convictions 
and  an  honest  heart."  You  then  add  ;  "  The  idea  of  Grant's  nomi 
nation  would  be  as  painful  to  me  as  it  is  to  you,  if  I  had  your  ex 
ceedingly  unfavorable  opinions  of  him."  Then  again  you  say;  "  It 
was  not  necessary  for  you  to  vindicate  yourself  to  me.  You  have 
lived  for  your  country  and  for  all  mankind."  I  will  not  quote  the 
praise  that  follows.  Besides  all  this  you  say,  "  I  cannot  ask  you  to 
vote  for  Grant,  nor  even  to  forbear  voting  against  him." 

Then  you  were  not  disposed  to  assail  me  and  to  find  excuses  in 
imagined  contrasts  of  early  life. 

It  is  very  painful  for  me  to  write  this.  But  it  seems  to  me  that 
your  own  sense  of  justice  will  recognize  its  truth. 

Once  you  stood  by  the  slave  ;  stand  by  Hayti  now,  which  repre 
sents  the  slave. 

Sincerely  yours, 

CHARLES  SUMNER. 


Washington,  7th  Aug.,  '73. 

My  Dear  Friend  -\  have  yours  of  August  4.     You  denounce 
me  as  joining  democrats,  because  I  declare  my  preference  for  Hor- 


THE  PEACE.  337 

ace  Greeley.  But  you  would  have  been  open  to  the  same  charge, 
had  you  supported  Chase  if  nominated  by  them.  Have  I  not  as 
much  right  to  vote  for  Horace  Greeley  as  you  would  have  to  vote 
for  Chase  without  any  denunciation  ?  The  cases  are  identical.  / 
have  entire  faith  in  Horace  Greeley.  I  am  at  a  loss  to  understand 
how  a  lover  of  peace  like  Gerrit  Smith  can  resist  the  opportunity  of 
reconciliation  and  put  back  the  outstretched  hand.  Think  of  demo 
crats  adopting  the  Cincinnati  platform  and  an  abolition  candidate 
and  you  holding  back  instead  of  closing  with  them  and  keeping  them 
to  their  promises  !  "  Blessed  are  the  peace-makers."  My  life  has 
been  of  controversy.  It  is  with  infinite  pain  that  I  find  it  continued 
and  with  personality  and  vindictiveness  unequalled.  But  I  could 
not  do  otherwise.  Mv  conscience  spoke  and  I  obeyed. 

Sincerely  yours, 

CHARLES  SUMNER. 

I  have  a  good  letter  from  Chase  to-day  approving  especially  my 
letter  to  the  colored  people  and  declaring  that  he  shall  vote  for  Hor 
ace  Greeley  in  whom  he  has  entire  trust. 


Washington,  6th  Aug.  '7*- 

My  Dear  Friend,  —  The  kindness  of  your  note  is  grateful. 

Let  me  confess, — your  speech  seemed  to  me  a  strange  assault.  I 
saw  no  reason  why  you  should  seek  to  account  for  my  opposition  to 
Grant  when  I  assigned  specifically  the  reasons,  which  had  been  com 
municated  to  you  one  or  two  years  ago, — and  when  you  went  further 
and  to  sustain  your  theory,  assumed  to  make  a  statement  about  my 
early  life,  inconsistent  with  the  fact, — I  thought  your  course  very 
strange  and  unfriendly. 

The  injury  is  done.  Your  speech  enters  into  the  bundle  of  mis 
representations  which  I  must  endure,  at  a  moment  when  I  am 
seeking  to  save  the  country  from  misrule  and  to  restore  concord. 

Sincerely  yours, 

CHARLES  SUMNER. 

This  mournful  episode  may  be  concluded  by  a  letter 
from  Andrew  D.  White,  President  of  Cornell  University, 
which  gives  his  view  of  the  controversy  between  U.  S. 
Grant  and  Charles  Sumner,  and  also  his  feeling  toward 
Gerrit  Smith  as  a  peacemaker. 


338  LIFE  OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

U.  S.  Steamer  Tennessee.  Jan'y  17,  1871. 

My  Dear  Friend,  —  On  leaving  Mr.  Sumner  night  before  last,  in 
Washington,  I  said  to  him,  "  I  leave  the  country  with  a  sad  heart, 
indeed,  for  I  have  this  day  seen  the  two  men  in  Washington,  who 
have  helped  most  directly  to  save  the  nation,  and  they  misunderstand 
each  other,  and  that  misunderstanding  is  sure  to  cost  the  country 
dear.  I  shall  write  this  to  Gerrit  Smith." 

That  is  my  feeling.  I  talked  fully  with  President  Grant  !  I  am 
not  very  old,  but  I  have  had  to  see  many  men,  and  judge  their  main 
qualities.  President  Grant  is  honest  and  patriotic,  I  know.  He  pre 
sents  the  St.  Domingo  question  from  his  side,  in  a  manner  that 
shows  him  sincere.  Think  whatever  we  may  of  his  theory,  it  is  that 
of  a  sincere  man,  and  earnestly  held,  and  as  such  entitled  to  respect. 

As  to  Mr.  Sumner,  I  need  not  speak  of  his  qualities  and  services. 
I  love  and  honor  him.  But  the  sad  thing  is  to  see  these  two  men 
separated  and  hostile — to  hear  the  adherents  of  either  filling  the  air 
•with  charges  which  cannot  be  true — to  hear  them  stimulating  the 
amour  propre  of  each,  and  devising  plans  of  vengeance. 

I  have  stated  my  own  conviction  that  President  Grant  is  honest. 
I  had  gone  to  Washington  with  many  misgivings.  I  had  feared 
that,  in  the  heat  of  this  contest,  it  might  be  signified  to  me  that  the 
authorities  at  Washington  hoped  or  trusted  that  the  Report  of  the 
Commissioners  would  be  favorable, — or  that  it  might  be  hinted  that 
duty  to  party  or  country  might  require  some  forbearance,  etc.,  etc.  : 
and  had  this  been  done,  the  rejoinder  on  my  part  must  have  been  a 
painful  one  to  make  ;  for  I  had  quietly  determined  that  I  would  make, 
no  sacrifice  of  my  manhood  in  this  matter. 

But  I  am  bound  to  say  that  there  was  not  the  shade  of  a  hi^t  or 
suggestion  of  the  kind.  The  President  said  :  "  Probe  everything  to 
the  bottom."  "  Make  your  investigations  as  full  and  fair  as  possible." 
"  I  am  as  ready  to  be  converted  to  anti-annexationist  doctrines  as  I 
hope  others  are  ready  to  be  converted  to  annexationist  doctrines." 
"  I  want  all  the  light  I  can  get,"— and  this  with  a  manner  that  be 
spoke  earnestness,  if  any  man's  manner  ever  did. 

And  now,  my  friend,  I  feel  better  to  have  told  you  this,  even 
though  it  does  no  good.  Neither  can  be  approached  now ;  but  if 
ever  a  moment  comes  for  you  to  earn  the  blessing  for  the  Peace 
makers,  I  trust  that  you  will  not  let  the  chance  go  by.  I  remain, 

Most  heartily  yours, 

To  Gerrit  Smith.  AND-  D-  WHITE- 

We  are  just  leaving  port.  Good  bye,  and  God  bless  you  and 
yours.  A.  D.  W. 


THE   PEACE.  339 

Gerrit  Smith's  interest  in  the  President  and  in  his 
reelection,  assumed,  as  usually  was  the  case  with  him,  a 
personal  form.  Mr.  Smith  was  never  impersonal.  It  was 
not  in  his  nature  to  be  so.  Whatever  he  felt  towards 
individuals  he  spoke  out.  He  felt  the  force  of  his  own 
individuality,  and  recognized  the  worth  of  theirs.  Gen 
eral  Grant  was  not  left  in  ignorance  of  this  man's  honest 
opinions. 

Long  Branch,  N.  J.,  Sept.  4, 1871. 

My  Dear  Sir  —  Your  favor  of  the  nth  of  August  enclosing  me 
a  few  copies  of  an  article  from  your  pen,  favoring  my  re-nomination 
and  election  to  the  office  of  President,  was  duly  received.  I  have  no 
valid  excuse  for  not  acknowledging  the  receipt  of  it  earlier  and  thank 
ing  you  for  your  good  opinion  which  I  prize  very  much.  The  fact  is 
I  put  your  letter  in  my  pocket,  with  many  others,  to  prevent  it  being 
mislaid  until  an  opportunity  occurred  to  answer  it.  It  has  been 
there  ever  since.  Please  accept  my  thanks  at  this  late  day  and  over 
look  my  negligence. 

With  great  respect, 

Your  obedient  servant, 
Honorable  Gerrit  Smith.  U.  S.  GRANT. 


Peterboro,  Sept.  13,  1871. 

PRESIDENT  GRANT 

My  Dear  Sir  —  On  my  return  home  after  a  short  absence,  I 
was  happy  to  find  myself  honored  with  a  letter  from  you.  It  is  a 
much  esteemed  and  very  welcome  letter. 

The  republican  party  saved  our  nation.  But  if  this  party  shall 
now  break  up  into  factions  and  have  a  different  presidential  candi-, 
date  for  each  faction,  it  will  make  itself  guilty  of  giving  up  the  nation 
to  destruction.  God  grant  that  it  may  be  kept  back  from  such 
suicidal  folly  and  sin  !  There  are  a  dozen  men  in  the  land,  any  one. 
of  whom  would  make  a  good  President.  But  the  republican  party 
must  unite  on  one  of  them,  or  fail.  Manifestly,  they  can  unite  on  no 
one  but  yourself — and  on  yourself  I  firmly  believe  they  will  unite. 

Please  make  my  very  kind  regards  to  Mrs.  Grant. 
Very  respectfully,  your  friend, 

GERRIT  SMITH. 


34°  LIFE   OF  G  ERR  IT  SMITH. 

Peterboro,  November  13,  1873. 

PRESIDENT  GRANT: 

My  Dear  Sir  —  My  congratulations  on  your  reelection  are  none 
the  less  warm  and  sincere  because  coming  so  late.  I  delayed  send 
ing  them,  for  the  reason  that  you  must  have  been  deluged  with  let 
ters  immediately  after  the  election. 

1  rejoice  in  your  reelection  for  your  own  sake— for  the  sake  of  its 
ample  vindication  of  your  assailed  wisdom  and  assailed  integrity — 
but  I  rejoice  in  it  more  for  our  country's  sake.  What  our  country 
most  needs  is  not  prosperity  in  business,  the  speedy  payment  of  her 
great  debt  and  the  increase  of  her  wealth.  Far  more  than  this  and 
than  all  things  else  she  needs  the  cordial  recognition  and  full  pro 
tection  of  the  equal  rights  of  all  her  children — the  black  and  red  as 
well  as  the  white.  In  the  light  of  what  you  have  already  done  to 
this  end,  I  believe  that  ere  the  close  of  your  next  Presidential  term, 
this  recognition  will  be  gained  and  this  protection  enjoyed.  Then 
and  not  till  then  shall  we  be  a  favored  nation.  For  then  and  not 
till  then  can  God  be  at  peace  with  it.  May  His  wisdom  continue  to 
guide  you  !  With  the  highest  regard, 

Your  friend, 

GERRIT  SMITH. 


Peterboro,  March  6th,  1873. 

PRESIDENT  GRANT  : 

Dear  Sir,  —  I  felt  myself  to  be  too  old  (seventy-six  this  day)  to 
attend  the  inauguration.  But  I  am  not  too  old  to  appreciate  your 
inaugural  address.  For  one  thing  especially  in  that  address,  which 
contains  so  many  good  things,  I  cannot  forbear  to  thank  you.  This 
one  thing  is  your  calling  attention  to  the  nation's  persistent  wronging 
of  the  black  man  in  continuing  to  withhold  from  him  equal  civil 
rights.  To  cease  from  this  injustice  and  this  ingratitude  toward  him 
and  from  this  great  sin  against  God  is  the  nation's  first  duty.  The 
nation  cannot  be  safe, — most  emphatically  the  republican  party  can 
not  be  safe, — if  the  discharge  of  this  duty  shall  be  delayed  much 
longer. 

Congratulating  you  that  you  enter  upon  the  second  term  of  your 
great  office  under  auspices  so  favorable, 

I  remain,  your  friend, 

GERRIT  SMITH. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

PHILANTHROPY. 

ALL  this  time  the  works  of  general  philanthropy 
went  on.  The  daily  calls  for  charity  were  listened 
to.  The  hungry  were  fed,  the  naked  clothed,  the  poor 
provided  for,  the  sick  visited.  It  was  said  of  a  promi 
nent  reformer,  a  friend  of  Gerrit  Smith,  that,  being 
asked  to  contribute  to  the  necessities  of  an  individual 
sufferer,  he  replied  that  he  was  too  much  occupied 
with  masses  of  wrong  to  heed  particular  instances  of 
misfortune.  On  hearing  which  remark  a  witty  woman 
exclaimed  :  "  Well,  that  beats  the  divine  Providence  ! 
God  Almighty  has  not  come  to  that ! "  Gerrit  Smith 
never  merited  nor  provoked  such  a  criticism.  No  matter 
how  severe  the  strain  or  how  intricate  the  perplexities 
of  public  affairs,  he  had  leisure  for  the  unnoticed  little 
ones,  and  in  blessing  them  he  found  an  unfailing  solace. 
During  the  latter  years  of  his  life,  his  business  required 
less  of  his  personal  attention,  his  chief  clerk  in  Peter- 
boro  and  his  agent  in  Oswego  being  men  of  competency, 
in  whom  he  had  entire  confidence,  so  that  he  was  able 
to  give  his  heart  out  freely  at  the  invitations  of  human 
kindness.  The  providence  that  had  so  faithfully  be 
friended  the  fugitive  slaves  was  now  extended  to  the 
freedmen,  whose  elevation  he  was  greatly  concerned  for. 
The  schools,  academies,  seminaries  which  sprang  up  in 


342  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

the  former  slave  States,  were  watched  by  him  with  in 
terest,  and  generally  aided  with  contributions  of  money. 
Whatever  had  a  moral  and  social  significance  for  the 
community  had  an  interest  for  him.  His  endeavors  in 
behalf  of  the  temperance  reform  were  unceasing  and 
assiduous  as  ever.  He  attended  conventions  of  his  anti- 
Dramshop  party  at  Syracuse  and  elsewhere,  speaking 
and  writing,  journeying  from  place  to  place,  when  his 
three  score  and  fifteen  years  might  have  excused  him. 

There  is  an  impression  that  he  never  took  a  practi 
cal  interest  in  schemes  of  public  improvement,  save  as 
they  favored  his  private  investments,  and  in  the  expec 
tation  of  handsome  pecuniary  returns.  But  this  is  an 
entire  mistake.  There  was  not  an  enterprise  that  prom 
ised  to  aid  the  industries  or  to  promote  the  commerce 
of  central  New  York  that  he  was  not  consulted  about, 
and  concerned  in,  whether  it  directly  furthered  his  pro 
jects  or  not.  He  was  willing  to  take  his  share  and  no 
more  than  his  share  of  the  general  benefit.  The  Ni 
agara  Ship  Canal,  in  which  his  old  friend  Alvan  Bronson 
was  so  active  an  advocate,  he  regarded  as  an  enterprise 
of  the  utmost  importance  to  the  State ;  not  to  the  por 
tion  of  the  State  in  which  the  greater  part  of  his  own 
property  lay,  but  to  the  city  of  New  York  in  particular. 
To  Auditor  Benton,  in  1866,  he  wrote  : 

"  Taking  you  for  authority,  I  should  affirm  with  the  utmost  posi- 
tiveness  the  wisdom  of  building  the  Niagara  Ship  Canal.  If,  as  you 
say,  the  Erie  Canal  '  will  not  pay  tolls  enough  to  pay  the  expense  of 
superintendence  and  repairing  after  the  Niagara  Ship  Canal  is  in 
operation,'  then  why  should  not  every  one  who  believes  you  feel  em 
boldened  to  declare  that  the  Niagara  Ship  Canal  ought,  with  all  pos 
sible  speed,  to  be  hurried  into  operation  ?  What  a  rich  blessing  in 
reserve  for  tens  of  millions  of  people  in  this  canal,  according  to  your 


PHIL  AN  THROP  Y.  3  43 

view  of  the  vast  use  it  will  be  put  to  !  and  how  can  you  find  it  in 
your  heart  to  postpone  their  enjoyment  of  it !  " 

Then  after  arguing  at  some  length,  the  advantages 
of  the  canal,  he  concluded  : 

"  Is  it  not  high  time  for  us  to  rise  up  out  of  this  unenlightened, 
selfish,  narrow  policy,  which  makes  more  account  of  tolls  than  of 
commerce,  of  local  interests  than  of  the  general  good,  of  a  State 
than  of  a  Nation?  If  men  will  build  us  canals  more  useful  than 
those  we  have,  I  do  not  say  that  we  should  help  them, — but  I  do  say 
that  we  should  let  them.  Our  present  improvements  are  to  be 
prized  by  us  ;  but  we  must  not  make  them  a  finality.  On  the  con 
trary,  the  door  for  greater  improvements  must  be  constantly  left 
open." 

In  1867  he  wrote  to  Alvan  Bronson,  of  Oswego: 

"  For  one  I  never  suspected  that  the  Midland  Road  was  to  be 
turned  aside  for  the  benefit  of  any  interests,  even  those  of  Oswego. 
We  understood  that  the  one  great  object  in  building  it  was  to  open 
to  the  products  of  the  great  west  an  avenue  to  the  city  of  New  York 
cheaper  than  any  other  which  there  was  or  could  be  in  the  State  of 
New  York.  .  .  .  Scarcely  will  the  construction  of  the  Niagara 
Ship  Canal  have  been  commenced,  ere  will  also  have  commenced 
the  construction  of  a  railroad  from  New  York  across  Chenango  and 
Madison  Counties  to  Oswego.  It  will  be  a  road  far  more  substantial 
and  expensive  than  the  contemplated  one.  It  will  not  be  a  road  zig 
zagging  after  bonds, — but  the  shortest  there  can  be.  The  zigzagging 
road  would  not  remove  nor  at  all  lessen  the  necessity  of  building  the 
other.  And  when  the  other  were  built,  what  then  would  the  zigzag 
ging  road  be  worth  to  its  stockholders  ?  .  .  .  There  is  complaint 
in  some  quarters  that  I  do  not  increase  to  twenty-five  thousand  dol 
lars  my  subscription  to  the  Midland  Road.  I  cannot  see  that,  in 
any  point  of  view,  it  is  my  duty  to  increase  it.  Had  the  proper 
route  of  the  road  been  adopted,  I  should,  from  the  fact  of  my  own 
ership  of  property  in  Oswego,  be  morally  bound  to  make  a  large  sub 
scription  to  the  stock  of  the  road.  I  should  not  then  have  objected 
t-o  its  being  as  large  as  twenty-five  thousand  dollars.  But,  a  grossly 
improper  route  having  been  chosen,  I  am,  on  the  other  hand,  morally 
bound  not  to  add  to  my  subscription.  Nothing  in  my  stewardship 
must  I  be  guilty  of  wasting ;  and  I  must  not,  by  adding  to  the  sub- 


344  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

scription,  encourage  others  to  waste  their  money  upon  this  unwisely, 
nay,  wildly  located  road." 

The  same  year  he  wrote  to  John  B.  Edwards,  of  Os 
wego,  who  represented  to  him  that  most  of  the  people 
of  Oswego  preferred  the  route  adopted  for  the  Midland 
Road,  for  city  and  county  reasons : 

"  A  far  higher  question  than  what  is  for  the  advantage  of  Oswego, 
is  what  does  Honesty  require  of  her.  Is  it  honest  in  Oswego  to  de 
sire  to  have  the  Midland  Road  turned  ten  miles  out  of  its  way,  for 
the  sake  of  these  special  favors  to  herself?  ...  I  suppose  I 
have  paid  much  more  than  any  other  stockholder.  What  I  have 
paid  I  am  willing  to  count  as  loss.  But  I  am  not  willing  to  fling 
away  any  more  money  on  this  wild  scheme  of  building  a  road  from 
Oswego  to  New  York  by  the  way  of  the  north  shore  of  Oneida  Lake. 
I  took  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  in  the  stock  of  the  present  road 
from  Oswego  to  the  Rome  and  Watertown  Road.  If  Oswego  shall 
organize  a  company  for  building  another  road  to  the  Rome  and 
Watertown  Road,  I  will  yield  to  her  wishes  and  be  one  of  the  com 
pany.  But  I  am  not  willing  to  help  her  build  any  of  her  little  side 
roads  under  cover  or  pretense  of  their  being  roads  to  the  city  of 
New  York.  .  .  .  You  refer  to  the  proposed  Lake  Shore  Road.  I 
have  subscribed  three  thousand  dollars  to  it ;  and  I  hope  to  increase 
my  subscription  to  twenty  thousand.  But  I  shall  feel  myself  to  be 
neither  morally  nor  legally  bound  to  pay  a  penny  of  it,  if  your  city 
shall,  in  order  to  gain  more  trade  from  her  neighborhood  or  to  pre 
vent  the  division  of  her  county,  or  for  any  other  reason,  succeed  in 
getting  the  directors  to  turn  the  road  through  South  Hannibal.  I 
might  be  willing  to  help  build  a  road  from  Oswego  to  South  Hanni 
bal.  But  I  would  not  be,  if  it  were  built  under  the  deceptive  name 
of  the  Lake  Shore  Road." 

Thus  did  Gerrit  Smith  reconcile  business  with  regard 
for  the  benefit  of  his  fellow-men.  His  business  sagacity 
was  seldom  at  fault,  and  it  often  turned  out  with  him 
that  the  most  public  spirited,  the  most  equitable,  and 
the  most  humane  thing  was  the  most  profitable.  His 
prophecy  in  regard  to  the  ill  fortune  of  the  Midland 


PHILANTHROPY.  345 

Road  came  true  and  justified  the  moral  grounds  of  his 
objection.  Had  the  building  of  the  Niagara  Ship  Canal 
been  undertaken,  his  beloved  city  of  Oswego  might  have 
risen,  according  to  his  prediction,  to  be  the  great  and 
beautiful  city  of  his  dreams. 

The  faith  in  human  brotherhood,  in  the  harmony  of 
human  interests,  in  the  mutual  dependence  of  the  races, 
and  the  absolute  safety  of  justice,  made  him  an  easy 
convert  to  the  principles  of  free  trade.  Exclusive  rights, 
private  privileges,  local  prerogatives  and  monopolies 
were  his  detestation.  He  believed  that  all  mankind 
flourished  and  were  happy  together;  no  profit,  he  was 
sure,  could  be  lasting  or  solid  that  was  gained  by  a  sec 
tion,  at  the  expense  of  the  community.  He  ascribed  to 
the  teaching  of  Alvan  Bronson  his  allegiance  to  free 
trade ;  but  he  must  have  come  to  it  sooner  or  later 
by  his  unaided  instinct.  He  could  not  have  been  a 
protectionist  and  remained,  in  other  respects,  what 
he  was. 

Why  was  he  not,  by  a  similar  instinct  of  humanity, 
an  advocate  of  the  unqualified  abolition  of  the  penalty 
of  death  for  the  crime  of  murder?  He  was  not.  He 
gave  money  in  aid  of  the  advocacy  of  this  reform.  He 
favored  its  discussion,  and  would  have  been  glad  to  be 
convinced  by  the  arguments  of  its  champions.  But  he 
stopped  short  of  being  persuaded,  because  the  commu 
nity  was,  in  his  view,  of  more  consequence  than  the  in 
dividual  ;  safety  demanded  the  suppression  of  crime, 
and  the  doom  of  death  was  the  surest  deterrent  from 
crimes  of  the  darkest  character.  The  doctrine  that  vice 
was  an  infirmity  of  the  blood  to  be  pardoned,  and  crime 
a  misfortune  to  be  pitied,  was  a  scandal  to  his  moral 
16* 


346  LIFE  OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

sense.  He  believed  in  moral  responsibility,  in  freedom 
of  choice,  in  the  power  of  the  roused  will ;  and  he  be 
lieved,  consequently,  in  the  restraining  force  of  punish 
ment.  His  doctrine  on  this  subject,  so  fully  stated  in 
the  address  before  the  American  Peace  Society,  at  Bos 
ton,  May  24,  1858,  remained  his  doctrine  to  the  end. 

"  The  inviolability  of  human  life  !  Much  is  said  in  favor  of  it,  and 
not  a  little  very  beautifully  and  strongly  said  ;  hut  after  all  the  doc 
trine  seems  not  to  be  reasonable.  I  readily  admit  that  the  life  of 
our  brother  is  not  to  be  taken  unless  there  be  the  utmost  necessity 
for  it.  Even  he  who  is  convicted  of  murder  should  be  led  to  prison 
rather  than  to  the  gallows  if  thereby  society  shall  be  made  equally 
sale  from  him,  and  others  shall  be  no  less  deterred  from  committing 
the  crime.  But  that  he  who  has  murdered  has  forfeited  his  life,  and 
placed  it  at  the  absolute  disposal  of  the  brotherhood  I  cannot  doubt. 
.  .  .  To  say  the  least,  is  there  not  a  very  disproportionate  con 
cern  for  the  welfare  of  the  murderer?  His  fellow-man  into  whose 
hands  his  crime  has  put  him,  have  their  own  welfare  to  see  to  ;  and 
this  they  must  do  most  thoroughly,  be  it  at  whatever  expense  it  may 
to  him  who  has  been  guilty  of  invading  it.  The  rights  of  the  inno 
cent  must  be  maintained,  cost  what  it  will  to  the  guilty.  The  com 
mon  thief  must  be  visited  with  a  punishment  adequate  to  restrain 
his  further  violations  of  the  sacredness  of  property.  And  so  too, 
must  life  go  for  life,  if  in  that  wise  murder  can  be  most  effectually 
prevented." 

Gerrit  Smith  was  one  of  the  many  petitioners  to  Gov 
ernor  Dix,  in  1 873,  for  the  life  of  the  convict  Foster  whom 
he  thought  possibly  guiltless  of  the  crime  of  murder. 
But  he  apparently  had  not  the  matter  much  at  heart ;  for 
the  note  was  a  very  short  one,  without  form  of  argu 
ment,  or  warmth  of  appeal.  In  a  letter  to  his  wife,  he 
merely  alludes  to  the  case:  "So  poor  Foster  must  be 
hung  !  I  hoped  the  Governor  would  spare  his  life." 
Many  a  loud  voiced  champion  of  the  gallows,  whose  per 
sonal  feelings  proved,  in  this  case,  stronger  than  the 


PH1LANTHROP  Y.  347 

sense  of  duty  to  society,  cried  more  pathetically  over  the 
fate  of  the  criminal  than  did  this  gentle,  but  just  spirit. 
His  love  of  humanity  was  too  sincere,  and  his  abhor 
rence  of  evil  too  deep  for  him  to  grieve  because  a  habit 
ual  disturber  of  the  peace  was  removed. 


Peterboro,  Nov.  21,  1868. 

Hon.  M.  H.  BOVEE: 

My  Dear  Sir  —  I  have  never  taken  the  ground  that  human  life 
is  "  inviolable."  Nevertheless,  I  have,  for  many  years  held  that 
there  should  be  no  capital  punishment  in  a  nation  or  state  where 
the  imprisonment  of  the  convict  can  be  made  sure. 

I  believe  that  capital  punishment  exerts  a  depraving  influence  on 
the  public  mind  ;  and  that,  while  it  deters  from  the  commission  of  no 
crime,  its  tendency  is  to  make  all  crimes  more  frequent.  Still,  should 
it  turn  out  that  the  safety  of  the  innocent  requires  the  taking  of  the 
life  of  the  guilty,  then  let  it  be  taken  ;  for  the  safety  of  the  innocent 
is  the  first  consideration.  But  I  do  not  believe  it  will  require  it 
where  the  guilty  can  be  shut  up  beyond  the  power  of  escape. 

I  trust  that  you  will  be  in  Albany  the  coming  winter  to  argue 
with  our  legislature  for  the  abolition  of  capital  punishment. 
With  great  regard,  your  friend, 

GERRIT  SMITH. 

The  changes  in  opinion  that  followed  the  abandon 
ment  of  the  Calvinistic  theology  were  not  confined  to 
the  speculative  region,  or  to  the  usual  departments  of 
reform,  but  extended  to  the  intricate  problems  of  social 
life.  A  few  years  ago,  on  the  occasion  of  a  celebrated 
case  of  divorce  and  marriage,  when  a  neglected  and  out 
raged  woman  found  escape  through  the  laws  of  another 
state  from  the  brutality  of  a  drunkard,  and  married,  on 
his  deatn  bed,  the  man  who  had  been  her  best  friend, 
and  her  deliverer  in  painful  straits,  Gerrit  Smith  es 
poused  the  woman's  cause  against  an  infuriated  press 
and  an  insane  public  opinion.  At  this  time  he  wrote 


348  LIFE   OF  GEKRIT  SMITH. 

and  published  an  article  declaring  that  his  early  convic 
tions  in  favor  of  the  severe  limitation,  if  not  the  absolute 
prohibition  of  divorce  had  undergone  revision  and  cor 
rection.  He  had  come  to  think  that  the  doctrine  of 
the  New  Testament  which  he  had  held  to  be  authority 
was,  on  rational  grounds,  open  to  criticism,  besides  being 
inapplicable  to  modern  society.  He  had  long  been  of 
the  opinion  that  the  ethics  of  Jesus,  being  adapted  to  a 
new  state  of  things,  being  the  moral  code  for  the  "  King 
dom  of  Heaven  "  which  He  came  to  establish,  must  be 
modified  and  readjusted  to  meet  the  problems  of  our 
civilization.  Some  of  the  precepts,  notably  this  one 
respecting  marriage  and  divorce,  were  probably  intended 
for  the  instruction  of  Jews,  whose  customs  of  divorce 
had  become  exceedingly  lax.  He  regarded  as  illogical 
the  practice  of  judging  Western  society  by  Eastern  max 
ims,  the  usages  and  needs  of  the  nineteenth  century  by 
the  traditions  of  the  first ;  and  considered  as  "  ludicrously 
inconsistent  the  tens  of  thousands  who,  in  defiance  of 
the  whole  Gospel,  are  willing  that  government  should 
multiply  without  limit  death -and -damnation-dealing 
dramshops,  and  protect  slaveholders  in  making  merchan 
dise  of  men,  and  who  are  at  the  same  time  shocked  at 
governments  being  so  anti-Gospel  as  to  allow  a  broken 
hearted  woman  to  be  divorced  from  the  drunken  hus 
band  who  beats  her,  and  threatens  and  attempts  to  kill 
her." 

The  discussion  of  the  Alabama  treaty  called  from 
Gcrrit  Smith  words  of  earnest  confidence  in  the  good 
will  of  the  English  people,  and  in  the  maintenance  of 
peace  between  the  two  nations.  They  were  printed  in 
his  own  little  paper,  <:  The  anti-Dramshop,"  and  were 


PHILANTHR  OP  Y.  3  49 

probably  read  by  few  people  ;  but  they  were  significant 
of  the  generous  temper  of  the  man. 

"  Come,  England,  make  your  offer  !  Make  it  in  a  generous 
spirit,  and  it  will  be  accepted  in  a  generous  spirit.  Stand  no  longer 
on  your  interpretation  of  the  treaty  !  Stand  no  longer  on  your  de 
cision  that  it  would  be  contrary  to  the  dealings  of  the  nations  with 
each  other  to  make  these  indirect  losses  a  part  of  our  account 
against  you  !  " 

The  cause  of  Cuba  enlisted  his  warmest  enthusiasm. 
To  Miguel  De  Aldama,  Thomas  Jordan,  and  Charles  A. 
Dana,  he  sent  his  cheque  for  one  thousand  dollars  in 
1873  :  "  This  is  neither  the  first  nor  the  second  time  you 
have  spontaneously  given  equal  sums  to  the  Cuban 
cause  ;"  the  committee  wrote.  "  But  upon  this  occasion 
your  donation  is  accompanied  by  such  warm  expressions 
of  sympathy  for  the  rights  and  afflictions  of  the  Cuban 
people,  that  they  must  indubitably  find  an  echo  not 
only  in  the  gratitude  of  the  Cubans,  but  also  in  the 
hearts  of  all  lovers  of  liberty  and  justice."  At  great 
pains  he  arranged  public  meetings  in  the  aid  of  Cuba, 
at  Peterboro  and  Canastota,  writing  and  circulating 
hand  bills,  and  making  the  occasions  attractive  by  his 
hospitality.  The  ill  success  of  these  efforts  gave  him 
bitter  pain.  "  What  will  these  people  do,"  he  observed 
plaintively  to  a  friend  and  neighbor,  "  when  I  am  gone  ! 
All  my  life,  I  have  labored  to  interest  them  in  the  best 
things  and  the  best  people  ;  they  allow  me  to  do  it,  un 
assisted.  I  am  old  and  soon  shall  leave  them.  Yet, 
even  now,  they  take  no  interest." 

What  will  they  do  indeed !  They  did  nothing. 
When  he  died,  there  were  no  signs  of  life  remaining  in 
them. 


350  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

Earnest  men  in  foreign  lands  showed  more  apprecia 
tion  of  the  great-hearted  American,  than  did  his  neigh 
bors  in  the  little  village  of  Peterboro. 

My  Dear  Friend,  —  I  have  been,  from  day  to  day,  delaying  my 
answering  you  and  acknowledging  your  very  liberal  gift  of  seventy- 
five  pounds  sterling  to  our  cause,  hoping  to  find  time  for  a  letter  such 
as  you  ask,  to  your  countrymen.  I  cannot  write  it  now,  and  will  not 
delay  any  more  sending  a  few  words  of  gratefulness.  I  shall  cer 
tainly  write  and  send  a  letter  for  publication  in  a  few  days  ;  you  may 
reckon  on  it.  But  I  am  overwhelmed  with  work,  and  threatened 
with  giddiness  and  other  ominous  symptoms  when  I  write  too  much. 

I  fancy  your  spontaneous  gift  will  bring  good  luck  to  my  plans. 
I  feel  deeply  grateful  not  only  for  the  money,  which  is  most  useful, 
but  for  the  spirit  in  which  it  is  given,  and  for  the  good,  loving,  and 
earnest  words  which  accompany  it.  Bless  you  ! 

I  am  absorbed  in  an  actual  crisis,  and  in  the  Roman  question.  I 
hope  that,  with  God's  help,  we  shall  solve  it  in  a  way  beneficial  not 
only  to  ourselves,  but  to  mankind. 

Ever  faithfully  yours, 

JOSEPH  MAZZINI. 

Feb'y  ai~'67,  18  Fulhana  Road,  London.  S.  W. 


London,  August  8. 

Dear  Sir  —  From  my  friend  Bulowski  and  others  I  know  how 
our  ideas  concerning  the  immense  advantages  of  a  close  alliance 
between  the  republicans  of  the  new  world  are  harmonizing,  and  I 
know  that  you  belong  to  that  class  of  men  who  understand  that  to 
be  a  man  is  to  be  one  in  thought  and  action,  to  strive  to  embody 
what  we  believe  to  be  truth,  into  reality.  The  alliance  proposed  by 
us  and  accepted  by  the  New  York  and  Boston  Committees,  is  doubt 
less  a  good  and  great  thought,  but  requiring,  to  bear  fruit,  a  great 
deal  of  active  energy,  and  a  capability  for  feeling  the  sacredness  of 
the  principle  and  the  practical  way  through  which  it  can  become  a 
powerful  fact.  You  have  both.  Let  me  reckon  on  you  as  upon  one 
of  the  principal  workers  in  and  for  the  alliance.  Lend  a  hand  to 
what  I  call  the  laying  down  of  the  moral  Atlantic  Cable.  Your  help 
is  needed. 

The  alliance  wants  organization,  propagandism,  a  press,  travel 
lers,  plenty  of  things  requiring  funds.  Let  us  strike  the  coin  of  the 


PHILANTHROP  Y.  351 

Republican  Alliance.  We  have  proposed  to  both  the  committees 
the  issue  of  subscription  notes  for  one,  five,  ten,  twenty  dollars, 
representing  the  admission  to  the  Association,  or  the  sympathy  of 
those  who  will  not,  through  some  individual  reason,  formally  belong 
to  it.  It  seems  to  me  almost  essential  that  an  American  name 
should  in  these  notes,  be  added  to  ours.  The  specimen  of  the  note 
is  by  this  time  in  the  hands  of  the  New  York  Committee  ;  and  I  trust 
you  will  see  it,  think  of  it,  and  strongly  advocate,  with  or  without 
modifications,  a  speedy  realization  of  the  scheme. 

Believe  me,  dear  sir,  ever  faithfully  yours, 

JOSEPH  MAZZINI. 


18  Fulham  Road,  Nov.  5. 

My  Dear  Sir  —  I  come  back  from  a  three  months'  journey  to 
Switzerland  and  Italy,  and  find  such  an  arrear  of  work  to  be  done 
that  I  have  no  time  to  write  to  you  as  I  should  wish.  But  I  avail 
myself  of  the  opportunity  of  my  friend  Mr.  Linton  leaving  for  the 
United  States,  to  tell  you  that  I  am  very  grateful  to  you  for  your 
kind,  good  friendly  letter,  to  tell  you  that  I  have  read  "  The  Theolo 
gies,"  and  that  I  should  feel  ready  to  sign  almost  everything  you 
say  there,  and  that  I  value  above  all,  the  frank,  fearless  way  in  which 
you  state  what  you  believe  or  disbelieve  in. 

Mr.  Linton,  whom  I  beg  to  introduce  to  you,  will  inform  you  of 
our  actual  views  and  prospects  as  far  as  our  Alliance  is  concerned. 
I  feel  disheartened  at  the  prolonged  silence  of  the  two  committees. 
I  have  never  had  an  answer  to  my  proposals.  I  regret  it  for  both 
your  sake  and  ours.  To  us  a  material  help,  just  as  that  you  speak 
of,  would  now  be  of  the  highest  importance  to  yourself.  The  practical 
positive  organization  of  the  Alliance  would  be  the  initiation  of  a 
high,  noble  task,  the  fulfilment  of  which  would  strengthen  you  and 
consecrate  as  it  were,  even  the  internal  struggle  through  which  you 
now  must  go. 

Do  what  you  can  in  the  right  direction,  and  believe  me,  my  dear 
sir,  ever  faithfully  yours, 

JOSEPH  MAZZINI. 

The  little  package  containing  these  letters  from  the 
great  Italian  reformer,  contains  with  them  a  copy  of  the 
circular  announcing  "  The  Universal  Republic  "  which 


352  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

aimed  "  To  maintain  the  right  of  every  country  to  a 
republican  government,  and  the  consequent  duty  of  all 
republicans  to  unite  for  a  solidarity  of  republics."  The 
needful  information  respecting  means  of  efforts  and  rules 
of  affiliation  is  given.  The  date  is  January,  1867.  A 
scheme  like  this  fired  the  imagination  of  Gerrit  Smith. 
The  vision  of  Utopia  was  always  in  view,  gladdening  and 
consoling.  While  toiling  at  the  most  unremunerative 
and  disheartening  causes  in  a  "  topsy-turvey  world,"  he 
could  contemplate  a  future  when  the  vice  of  intemper 
ance,  the  guilt  of  slavery,  the  brutality  of  war  should 
cease ;  when  four  hours  of  daily  labor  would  be  suffi 
cient  to  supply  man's  natural  wants,  and  the  general  cul 
tivation  of  the  intellectual  nature  should  be  carried  joy 
ously  on. 


CHAPTER    X. 

THE  END. 

GERRIT  SMITH'S  health  was,  to  all  appearances 
completely  restored  after  his  return  from  the  asy 
lum  at  Utica.  The  diary,  which  for  many  years  recorded 
ailments,  colds,  hoarseness,  giddiness,  is  nearly  silent  on 
the  subject  during  the  last  ten  years  of  his  life.  He 
called  himself  an  old  man,  and  spoke  of  the  infirmities 
of  his  age  more  than  was  necessary ;  this  was  his  habit. 
His  friends  rallied  him  upon  it,  as  they  had  always 
done.  His  physical  strength  had  visibly  declined.  His 
gait  had  become  shambling,  his  movement  slow ;  but 
his  mind  continued  clear;  his  faculties  worked  easily; 
his  feelings  were  warm,  his  impulses  fresh  and  generous 
as  of  old.  He  was  ripe,  mellow  and  juicy  ;  grander  than 
ever  in  personal  aspect,  patriarchal  in  bearing  and  look, 
courteous  in  demeanor.  He  brought  to  mind  the  figures 
of  ancient  worthies  who  were  at  the  same  time  priests 
and  kings,  their  white  beards  betokening  the  dignity  of 
the  sacred  office,  their  stalwart  forms  suggesting  the 
sword  and  battle  axe.  His  eye  was  soft,  his  skin  ruddy, 
his  voice  deep  and  unctuous.  As  he  stood,  listening  or 
talking,  he  was  a  man  majestic  and  beautiful  to  look 
upon.  On  the  24th  of  December,  1874,  he  left  his  home 
in  Peterboro  to  pass  the  Christmas  holidays  in  New 
York,  at  the  house  of  his  kinsman,  John  Cochrane,  60 


354  LIFE   OF  G ERR  IT  SMITH. 

Clinton  Place,  leaving  a  paper  on  his  desk  giving  direc 
tions  about  his  letters  and  papers.  He  was  in  excellent 
spirits.  The  Christmas  eve  was  happy ;  the  Christmas 
day  was  passed  cheerfully  in  social  chat.  At  the  dinner- 
table  he  exhibited  his  usual  liveliness,  though  it  was  re 
marked  that  he  had  less  than  his  wonted  readiness  in 
responding  to  "  sentiments."  It  was  already  his  early 
bed  time  when  the  company  rose  from  table.  His  day's 
task  was  not  completed.  Calling  on  his  niece,  Mrs. 
Walter,  to  get  her  writing  materials,  he  then  dictated 
four  letters  ;  the  first  was  to  his  old  housekeeper  at  Peter- 
boro,  charging  her  not  to  neglect  his  poor  in  the  village, 
to  see  that  the  children  of  the  orphan  asylum  had  their 
holiday  supplies,  and  that  papers  were  sent  to  the  free 
reading  room  which  he  maintained  ;  the  other  three  were 
kindly  answers  to  applications  for  charity.  He  then 
went  to  bed,  with  plans  in  his  mind  to  visit  Thurlow 
Weed,  Charles  O'Conor,  and  other  old  friends  the  next 
day,  and  with  pleasant  thoughts  about  the  happiness  of 
the  day  just  ended.  The  night  was  undisturbed.  He  rose 
as  usual,  at  half-past  six  o'clock,  and  was  dressing  him 
self,  when  his  wife,  who  had  not  risen,  was  surprised  by 
an  incoherent  remark  that  escaped  him.  She  raised  her 
head  to  look,  and  saw  him  feeling  vaguely  about  in  the 
air.  She  hastened  to  him,  spoke  but  received  no  answer, 
tried  to  move  him,  but  he  was  inert.  Suddenly,  with 
his  accustomed  dignity  of  bearing,  he  rose  from  his  chair 
—walked  unsupported  to  the  bed,  slowly,  saying  as  if 
to  himself,  "weak,  very  weak,"  laid  himself  straight,  on 
his  back,  his  right  hand  at  his  side,  his  left  hand  on  his 
breast.  So  he  lay  till  he  died,  a  movement  of  the  left 
hand  in  response  to  his  wife's  repeated  and  agonized  cry 


THE  END.  355 

for  recognition  being  the  last  sign  of  conscious  life.  The 
household  was  alarmed  ;  the  family  flocked  in  ;  the  physi 
cian  came  ;  every  brain  was  active  in  devising  allevia 
tions  ;  every  hand  and  foot  was  ready  to  help  him  who 
had  been  hands  and  feet  to  so  many;  he  lay  still,  heavily 
breathing,  unconscious.  All  day  Saturday,  all  day  Sun 
day,  till  Monday  noon  he  lay  thus.  Then  the  glassy 
eyes  started  open  to  make  the  face  look  more  soulless ; 
the  head  turned  mechanically,  and  then  sank  heavily 
into  the  pillows ;  the  breath  rallied  for  a  final  effort,  then 
ceased.  The  man  was  dead.  Fifty-three  hours  death 
had  been  extinguishing  the  vital  spark.  Slight  premoni 
tions  of  cerebral  disturbance  in  the  form  of  sudden  wak 
ings  from  sleep,  nightmare,  and  fright,  would  have 
alarmed  him,  had  they  been  more  pronounced.  As  it 
was  he  had  no  apprehension  or  pain  of  dissolution. 

The  first  mourner  was  Thurlow  Weed,  his  old  ac 
quaintance  who  knew  him  in  college,  and  stood  by  him 
when  he  made  his  first  appearance  in  State  politics,  at 
Utica,  in  1824.  The  next  day — December  29 — the  body, 
surrounded  with  fresh  flowers,  the  grand  head  embedded 
in  roses,  lilies,  pinks,  violets  and  ferns,  was  visited  by 
troops  of  friends,  Vice  President  Wilson,  the  President 
and  Treasurer  of  Hamilton  College,  Highland  Garnet, 
Christopher  Brown,  John  D.  Mulford,  Peter  S.  Porter, 
Charles  B.  Ray,  and  other  representatives  of  the  black 
people,  by  Commissioner  Echeverria,  and  General  Queral- 
to  of  the  Cuban  army,  bringing  expressions  of  respect  and 
gratitude  from  their  countrymen.  Men  of  all  the  profes 
sions  and  laymen  of  every  degree,  came  to  look  at  the 
dead  face  of  the  philanthropist.  A  night  train  carried 
the  body  and  a  company  of  relatives  to  Canastota, 


LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

where    carnages    were    in    waiting    to    finish    the    last 
journey. 

In  spite  of  the  bitter  cold — thirty  degrees  below  zero 
— a  crowd  was  collected  at  the  railway  station  and  at 
the  house.  The  whole  village  was  present  at  the  man 
sion  when  the  body  arrived,  men  and  women  of  all  ages 
and  degrees,  the  oldest  and  poorest  being  most  conspic 
uous,  because  most  bereaved.  Flowers  adorned  the 
rooms;  the  Cuban  cross  stood  on  the  table  in  the  li 
brary,  mottoes  from  the  good  man's  speeches  and  letters 
hung  in  the  hall,  the  library,  and  over  Huntington's  por 
trait  in  the  parlor.  The  children  of  the  Orphan  Asylum, 
thirty  in  number,  white  and  black — special  wards  of  Ger- 
rit  Smith,  inmates  of  an  institution  which  he  founded, 
came  in,  looked  one  after  another  on  the  face  of  their 
benefactor,  and,  ranged  in  a  semi-circle  about  the  coffin, 
sang  a  favorite  hymn  of  his. 

Let  us  gather  up  the  sunbeams 

Lying  all  around  our  path  ; 
Let  us  keep  the  wheat  and  roses 

Casting  out  the  thorns  and  chaff. 
Let  us  find  our  sweetest  comforts 

In  the  blessings  of  to-day, 
With  a  patient  hand  removing 

All  the  briars  from  the  way. 

The  funeral  services  were  brief  and  simple.  The 
family  consulted  the  well  known  feelings  of  the  dead, 
by  excluding  everything  of  a  showy,  expiatory,  or  peni 
tential  character.  He  regarded  death  as  a  natural  and 
gracious  ordinance,  not  as  the  doom  for  sin,  or  the  result 
of  transgression;  not  as  the  close  of  earthly  probation, 
or  the  opening  of  the  dreadful  door  to  the  Hall  of  Judg 
ment  ;  but  rather  as  one  passage  in  the  human  creature's 


THE   END.  357 

career ;  a  passage  which  all  must  pass  through,  and 
which  one  was  as  likely  to  pass  through  calmly  as  an 
other.  He  had  always  considered  the  present  as  the 
fruit  of  the  past  and  the  seed  of  the  future ;  had  always 
been  more  concerned  with  what  was  than  with  what 
was  to  come.  If  he  thought  of  the  hereafter,  it  was 
with  expectation  and  confidence,  never  with  fear  or 
foreboding.  It  is  remarkable  that,  being  the  religious 
man  that  he  was,  he  did  not,  even  in  his  Calvinistic  days, 
dwell  on  the  hideous  alternatives  of  death.  Though 
the  diary  records  the  decease  of  many  people,  the  saintly 
and  the  passionate,  the  good  and  the  bad,  the  believing 
and  the  unbelieving,  there  is  no  allusion  in  it  to  the 
frightful  hereafter,  depicted  by  the  popular  creed.  Of 
ten  the  departed  is  spoken  of  as  having  gone  to  heaven, 
as  being  with  the  Saviour,  but  never  as  having  gone  to 
hell,  as  being  with  Satan  and  his  fiends.  The  natural 
faith  of  the  man  was  unclouded  by  the  views  he  pro 
fessed.  He  anticipated  in  feeling  the  brighter  day  that 
has  come  when  the  Love  of  Christ  is  the  heart  of  the 
Gospel  and  a  gracious  God  is  all  in  all. 

Nothing  was  said  at  the  house  or  grave,  that  was  out 
of  keeping  with  the  benignant,  beneficent  life  of  the  man. 
The  Rev.  S.  R.  Calthrop,  a  Unitarian  minister  of  Syra 
cuse,  a  liberal,  cultivated,  wise,  and  sympathetic  man, 
the  successor  of  the  venerable  Samuel  J.  May,  the  be 
loved  friend  of  the  deceased,  read  hopeful  passages  from 
Scripture,  gratefully  acknowledged  the  divine  mercy  and 
besought  the  heavenly  peace,  and  addressed  cheerful 
words  to  the  mourners.  A  sentiment  of  mournful  sym 
pathy  pervaded  the  house.  The  more  bitterly  bereaved 
broke  into  loud  lament  for  their  lost  benefactor.  The 


358  LIFE   OF  C ERR  IT  SMITH. 

relations  and  personal  friends  stood  in  the  soft  shadow 
of  recollections.  Old  "  Aunt  Betsy,"  the  early  protegee, 
the  confidential  inmate  and  trusted  friend,  now  past 
eighty,  stood,  in  complacent  sorrow  by  the  coffin,  her 
sense  of  bereavement  being  chastened  by  the  universal 
respect  which  all  classes  manifested  towards  her  bene 
factor.  The  members  of  the  village  Sunday  school  sang 
hymns  from  their  song  book  which  had  been  sweet  to 
the  good  man's  ear,  songs  of  kindness  and  compassion. 
The  lid  of  the  casket  was  closed,  and  the  procession  fol 
lowed  the  body,  through  the  snow,  to  the  unpretending 
cemetery  on  the  summit  of  a  neighboring  hill.  Gen. 
John  Knox,  of  Knoxboro  ;  Charles  B.  Sedgwick,  of 
Syracuse  ;  Henry  A.  Foster,  Dewitt  C.  Littlejohn  and 
Hamilton  Littlefield,  of  Oswego  ;  F.  F.  Petrie,  Caleb 
Calkins,  John  Campbell,  Jeremiah  Bump,  and  Noah 
Brister,  (colored)  of  Peterboro ;  William  Kenny  and 
George  Bland,  (colored)  of  Geneva  ;  Dr.  Milton  B.  Jarvis, 
of  Canastota  ;  and  Benjamin  Chapman,  of  Clockville, 
acting  as  pall-bearers.  A  plain  block  of  granite,  with 
his  name  cut  on  it,  marks  the  spot  where  Gerrit  Smith 
lies.  Next  him,  covered  by  a  similar  block  of  granite, 
lies  the  wife  who  survived  him  but  three  months.  On  the 
other  side  a  more  ambitious,  but  less  becoming,  monu 
ment  of  marble  indicates  the  burial-place  of  his  first 
wife  Wealtha.  At  a  little  distance,  a  broad  marble  slab 
commemorates  his  father,  and  two  monuments  his  mother 
and  two  brothers.  The  large  plot  has  no  enclosure 
about  it.  The  stranger's  feet  may  stand  there.  It  is 
the  one  plot  in  the  burial  ground  that  is  evidently  tended 
by  careful  hands.  The  rest  are  too  little  cared  for,  in 
some  instances  overgrown  with  weeds  and  coarse  grass. 


THE  END.  359 

Here  the  grass  is  closely  cut,  the  weeds  are  eradicated, 
the  dead  leaves  are  removed  as  if  in  deference  to  the 
man  who  lived  a  sweet,  open  and  cleanly  life, 

With  a  patient  hand  removing 
All  the  briars  from  the  way. 

The  death  of  Gerrit  Smith  excited  a  profound  feeling 
in  the  community.  All  classes  were  touched.  The 
press  of  the  country,  far  and  near,  religious  and  secular, 
political,  reformatory,  social,  took  notice  of  him.  The 
metropolitan  papers  devoted  columns  to  a  description 
of  his  life  and  character.  His  last  hours  and  his  obse 
quies  were  detailed  with  much  minuteness  by  special 
reporters.  The  Board  of  Trade  at  Oswego  met  and 
passed  resolutions  in  honor  of  him.  The  colored  citi 
zens  of  New  York,  with  the  old  abolitionists,  met  in  the 
Shiloh  Presbyterian  Church,  on  Sixth  Avenue,  to  listen 
to  a  Memorial  prepared  by  Highland  Garnet,  and  to 
speeches  gratefully  celebrating  the  services  rendered  to 
the  oppressed  of  all  nations  by  the  departed  philan 
thropist.  On  all  sides  the  tribute  was  paid  to  the  man 
who  loved  his  fellow-men.  The  politicians  forgot  their 
animosities,  the  reformers  their  jealousies,  even  the  di 
vines  their  rancor,  and  said  a  hearty,  if  a  brief,  word  in 
praise  of  one  who  held  party,  reform  and  church  connec 
tions  subordinate  to  the  welfare  of  humanity.  The 
Nation,  consecrated  opponent  of  sentimentalism,  quoted 
Dr.  Channing's  description  of  Mr.  Smith,  as  "  A  man 
worthy  of  all  honor  for  his  overflowing  munificence,  for 
his  calm  yet  invincible  moral  courage,  for  his  Christian 
liberality,  embracing  men  of  every  sect  and  name,  and 
for  his  deep,  active,  inexhaustible  sympathy  with  the 


360  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

sinful,  suffering  and  oppressed."  "  Words,"  added  the 
Nation,  "  which  might  well  furnish  an  inscription  for  his 
tombstone." 

The  letters  of  condolence  need  not  be  described. 
They  were  legion  ;  and  they  differed  from  similar  letters, 
merely  in  the  unaffected  sincerity  of  their  tone,  and  the 
variety  of  conditions  from  which  they  came.  A  letter 
of  William  Lloyd  Garrison  proves  how  entirely  memo 
ries  of  dissension  and  bitterness  will  pass  away  when 
death  brings  the  fullness  of  a  character  into  relief.  The 
two  men  had  criticised  one  another  severely.  They  had 
not  always  been  friendly,  though  at  heart  they  had 
been  friends.  A  package  of  letters  lies  on  the  writer's 
table  tied  up  with  red  tape,  and  labelled  "  Disagreement 
with  W.  L.  Garrison  and  C.  C.  Burleigh  ;— not  unpleasant 
with  the  latter  but  exceedingly  so  with  the  former." 
They  shall  not  be  quoted.  In  a  great  campaign,  leaders 
will  disagree,  and  the  sharpness  of  the  disagreement 
will  be  in  proportion  to  the  earnestness  of  the  men. 
Brutus  and  Cassius  are  brothers.  The  disagreements 
are  for  an  hour.  The  sympathies  are  for  all  time.  The 
love  grows  and  deepens  as  the  years  go  on. 

The  following  testimonial  from  the  hand  of  William 
Lloyd  Garrison  is  proof  of  this  : 

"  To-day,  Dec.  28th,  the  impressive  record  is  completed  by  the 
telegraphic  announcement  of  the  decease  of  one  who  by  reason  of 
his  intellectual  and  moral  force,  his  munificent  liberality,  his  rare 
self-abnegation,  his  stirring  eloquence,  his  courageous  and  resplen 
dent  example,  his  personal  gifts  and  graces,  his  all-embracing  phi 
lanthropy,  made  himself  preeminent  in  the  tremendous  struggle  for 
the  abolition  of  slavery.  To  whom  can  I  refer  but  that  great  and 
good  man,  Gerrit  Smith  ?  His  case  is  hardly  to  be  paralleled  among 
the  benefactors  of  mankind  in  this  or  any  other  country.  The 


THE  END.  361 

language  of  eulogy,  often  so  absurdly  or  tumidly  applied,  may  in 
this  instance,  be  used  in  its  strongest  form  without  danger  of  exag 
geration.  No  description  of  sublime  deeds  can  match  their  per 
formance.  Truly,  in  the  Peterboro  philanthropist  and  reformer  was 
seen : 

'  A  combination  and  a  form,  indeed, 

Where  every  god  did  seem  to  set  his  seal, 

To  give  the  world  assurance  of  a  man.' 

Of  a  man  not  only  remarkable  for  the  beauty  and  stateliness  of  his 
person,  the  suavity  of  his  manners,  and  the  charm  of  his  social  in 
tercourse,  but  exceptional  among  millions  in  what  he  achieved  in  the 
matter  of  self-conquest  over  the  strongest  temptations  and  the  most 
ample  opportunities  to  lead  a  luxurious  and  purely  worldly  life." 

There  were  tributes  in  verse,  many ;  but  wisdom 
counsels  not  to  print  them.  Mr.  Smith,  besides  medi 
tating  the  Muse,  himself,  on  a  very  slender  reed,  was  an 
inspiration,  all  through  his  life,  to  the  muse  of  others. 
Even  those  who  were  never  suspected  of  indulging  in 
poetic  flights,  ventured,  in  his  honor,  upon  the  empyrean. 
The  book  of  family  rhymes  contains  many  an  effusion 
which  the  authors  would  not  care  to  see  in  type.  Among 
the  rest  Miss  Emily  Faithful  appears,  in  wonted  prose 
rhythmically  divided.  The  following  sonnet,  by  a  real 
poet,  Miss  Eliza  Scudder,  is  an  example  of  the  best  sen 
timent  called  out  by  this  noble  life. 

TO  GERRIT  SMITH. 

Of  all  the  days  that  gild  the  gladsome  year, 
Not  the  first  freshness  of  the  vernal  time 
Nor  the  refulgent  pomp  of  summer's  prime 
Giveth  to  me  such  warm  and  heartfelt  cheer, 
As  the  sweet  season  that  hrings  in  the  dawn, 
With  roseate  flush  tempered  with  golden  haze, 
And  on  the  glowing  woods  and  harvest  lays 
The  fabled  splendors  of  an  Orient  morn. 
How  like  a  life  by  purest  goodness  filled, 
16 


362  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

Its  wise  deeds  like  the  ripe  and  garnered  fruit 
Its  wild  hopes  chastened  and  its  tumults  stilled 
In  air  serene  of  thought  entranced  and  mute. 
O  friend !  this  hand  in  flattery  unskilled, 
For  thee  alone  thus  strikes  the  wandering  lute. 

ELIZA  SCUDDER. 
Peterboro,  Oct.  30,  1866. 

The  joined  hands  pictured  at  the  end  of  the  volume 
are  the  hands  of  Gerrit  Smith  and  his  beloved  wife. 
They  were  modeled  from  life.  Hand  in  hand  the  two 
went  through  life  together,  sharing  and  counseling,  and 
supporting.  The  union  was  perfect.  Both  were  large  in 
brain  and  heart.  The  wife  was  the  more  poetical  and 
delicate  in  mental  structure,  but  she  was  equally  simple 
and  brave ;  equally  earnest  in  her  humanity  and  resolute 
in  her  devotion.  Her  interests  and  his  corresponded  in 
all  respects.  Their  differences  were  as  friendly  and  sweet 
as  their  sympathies.  Her  religion,  like  his,  was  interior 
and  practical ;  but  while  his  was  the  more  practical,  hers 
was  the  more  interior.  Her  interest  in  Spiritualism 
pleasantly  teazed,  but  did  not  vex  him.  They  were  in 
truth,  all  in  all  to  each  other.  They  left  but  two  chil 
dren,  Greene  and  Elizabeth,  (Mrs.%C.  D.  Miller).  Their 
grandchildren  and  great-grandchildren  were  precious  to 
them  as  their  own  ;  and  the  memory  of  those  that  had 
died  in  infancy  and  childhood  was  so  vivid  as  to  keep 
them  always  ntar.  Love  ruled  and  blessed  the  home. 

Few  words  are  necessary  to  sum  up  the  peculiarities 
of  the  character  whose  deeds  have  been  described  in  the 
foregoing  chapters.  To  say  that  Gerrit  Smith  was  not  a 
philosopher,  a  close  scientific  thinker,  a  student  of  theo 
ries  about  human  society,  or  of  human  society  itself  as 
an  organic  product  of  time,  is  superfluous.  The  most 


THE  END.  363 

careless  reader  of  his  life  must  perceive  that  he  was  not 
this.  Neither  was  he  a  man  of  books,  a  literary  man, 
largely  acquainted  with  the  achievements  of  the  human 
mind.  He  neither  fed  on  books,  nor  refreshed  himself 
with  books.  His  diary,  which  covers  a  space  of  more 
than  forty  years,  mentions  but  two  or  three  books  as  in 
teresting  him,  and  these  were  books  of  religious  experi 
ence.  Down  to  1846  the  only  book  named  is  The  Life 
of  Heinrich  Stilling.  In  his  political  letters  and  speeches 
reference  is  made  to  such  works  as  Hallam,  Adam  Smith, 
Vattel,  the  usual  text-books  in  social  science  and  con 
stitutional  law.  The  latest  authorities  were  apparently 
unknown  to  him.  Lysander  Spooner  was  his  authority 
on  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  His  writings 
on  religion  show  vigor,  acuteness,  courage,  a  singular 
originality  of  view,  but  neither  learning  nor  independent 
research.  His  library  contained  about  eighteen  hundred 
volumes,  of  a  miscellaneous  description,  no  works  of 
value,  no  rare  editions,  no  famous  copies,  nothing  that  a 
lover  of  literature  might  be  tempted  to  carry  away.  It 
was  strongest,  though  still  not  remarkably  strong,  in 
digests,  volumes  of  diplomatic  correspondence,  state 
reports,  and  that  semi-professional  literature  so  useful 
to  a  public  man.  Of  literature,  in  its  highest  sense,  there 
was  little  or  none.  The  Greek  and  Latin  classics  were 
conspicuously  absent.  An  incomplete  set  of  Bancroft's 
United  States,  Motley's  Dutch  Republic,  Irving's  Wash 
ington,  Prescott's  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  comprised  the 
better  portion  of  the  history.  Of  biography  there  was 
none,  or  next  to  none.  Of  philosophy,  natural  or  meta 
physical,  there  was  nothing.  None  of  the  great  thinkers 
of  the  world,  Greek,  Latin,  Italian,  German,  French  or 


364          LIFE  OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

English  were  there,  not  one,  ancient  or  modern,  original 
or  translated.  There  were  no  essays,  no  treatises  on  the 
constitution  of  the  human  mind  or  on  social  ethics.  Sav 
ing  two  popular  volumes  by  Darwin,  there  was  no  science. 
A  handsomely  bound  set  of  Campbell's  British  Poets 
comprehended  all  the  poetry ;  and  this,  it  may  be  ob 
served  by  the  way,  was  the  only  sumptuous  looking 
work  in  the  collection.  It  was  apparently  a  gift  copy, 
and  had  not  been  much  enjoyed.  There  was  no  drama, 
no  fiction,  no  travel.  What  was  there  ?  the  astonished 
reader  will  ask.  There  was  religious  literature,  so  called, 
in  good  store ;  there  were  sermons,  homilies,  commenta 
ries,  the  works  of  Wesley,  the  works  of  the  "  pious  John 
Newton."  Three  or  four  of  Renan's  books  in  the  bad 
English  translation,  were  encountered  ;  a  set  of  Theodore 
Parker's  writings  ;  Mrs.  Child's  "  Development  of  Reli 
gious  Ideas;"  some  volumes  by  A.  J.  Davis;  Jacolliot's 
"  Bible  in  India,"  translated;  Appleton's  American  Cy 
clopedia.  It  was  a  singularly  unintellectual  library,  even 
for  a  small  and  miscellaneous  reader,  who  desired  only  a 
superficial  acquaintance  with  books.  With  the  excep 
tion  of  a  few  primary  books,  there  was  nothing  in  any 
foreign  tongue,  ancient  or  modern.  The  books  there 
were  evinced  no  decided  or  distinctive  taste.  They  were 
not  selected,  but  were  evidently  picked  up;  many  were 
sent  by  authors  or  publishers.  It  was  not  the  library 
of  a  cultivated,  educated,  or  deeply  thoughtful  man. 

The  truth  is  that  Gerrit  Smith  was  not  a  man  of 
books ;  not  a  reader  even  of  such  books  as  he  possessed ; 
not  a  reader  of  reviews  or  of  magazines.  The  news 
papers,  of  which  he  took  many,  of  all  sorts,  furnished  his 
intellectual  material.  They  made  him  acquainted  with 


THE  END.  365 

the  events  of  the  day,  and,  having  a  good  memory,  he 
was  equipped  for  the  chief  emergencies  of  practical  life. 
A  faithful  reader  of  the  best  of  the  daily  papers  will  seem 
to  be  a  wise  and  well-endowed  man.  It  will  be  a  mis 
take  to  call  Gerrit  Smith,  on  this  account,  a  superficial 
man.  That  he  was  not,  because  his  own  mind  was  any 
thing  but  shallow.  He  was  gifted  with  extraordinary 
intellectual  force.  His  resources  were  abundant  and 
ready  at  command.  His  mental  impulse  was  great.  He 
was  always  awake  and  alive  ;  eager  to  receive  and  to  im 
part.  His  faculties  played  easily.  To  think,  write, 
speak,  cost  him  no  effort ;  he  enjoyed  the  exercise.  His 
thoughts  came  quickly,  faster  often  than  he  could  ar 
range  them.  They  crowded  one  upon  another,  pushed 
one  another  from  the  track  of  argument.  He  was  mas 
sive  and  keen  at  the  same  time  ;  with  a  perspicacity  that 
a  pleader  might  envy,  and  a  momentum  that  would 
make  a  fortune  at  the  bar.  In  business  clearness,  decis 
ion  and  despatch  he  was  almost  without  a  peer.  The 
business  men  who  knew  him  held  him  in  the  highest 
admiration.  Constitutional  lawyers  acknowledged  his 
preeminent  ability  in  dealing  with  fundamental  principles 
and  interpreting  nice  questions.  One  who  knew  him 
well  and  long  said  of  him  :  "  Without  doubt,  his  was  one 
of  the  profoundest  and  most  fertile  minds  America  has 
produced,  and  viewed  from  any  point  which  human 
vision  can  open,  it  is  a  great  pity  that  he  had  to  spend 
the  rich  aboundings  of  his  nature  in  caring  for  wealth 
which  in  a  large  degree  fettered  his  genius  and  cramped 
his  powers,  and  without  which  both  he  and  the  world — 
so  far  as  his  influence  in  it  is  concerned — would  have 
been  better  off  this  day." 


366  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

To  this  unqualified  judgment  the  biographer  demurs 
From  one  point  of  view  opened  by  human  vision,  the 
circumstances  amid  which  Gerrit  Smith  lived,  from  boy 
hood  up,  were  singularly  calculated  to  develop  his 
genius.  His  wealth  was  his  opportunity.  His  business 
talent  was  part  of  his  endowment,  and  not  the  least  re 
markable  part  of  it.  The  work  of  increasing,  investing, 
administering  money,  was  a  professional  occupation  from 
which  he  derived  the  advantages  that  a  professional  oc 
cupation  gives.  Nature  made  him  a  philanthropist,  and 
wealth  enabled  him  to  do  what  philanthropists  love  to 
do.  His  name  among  men  is,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  due  to 
his  wealth,  and  to  the  use  he  made  of  it.  The  grandeur 
of  his  character,  as  was  attested  by  the  universal  tribute 
that  men  paid  him  after  death,  consisted  in  his  power  to 
master  great  wealth,  to  bind  it  to  service,  to  make  it  the 
instrument  of  his  manhood,  to  extract  from  it  the  golden 
quality,  to  "  make  friends  of  the  mammon  of  unright 
eousness."  He  knew  what  it  was  to  make  money,  and 
so  knew  what  it  was  to  lose  it.  To  be  rich  was  not  so 
much  a  thing  of  course  with  him  that  he  looked  on 
riches  with  habitual  indifference  bordering  on  contempt. 
He  knew  what  money  was  worth,  and  because  he  knew 
it,  thought  it  no  mean  employment  to  labor  for  it,  and 
no  unworthy  aim  to  consecrate  it  to  the  needs  of  hu 
manity.  Because  he  so  prized  its  capabilities,  he  would 
place  none  of  it  at  the  disposal  of  his  lower  nature,  spent 
nothing  on  pleasure,  nothing  on  amusement,  next  to 
nothing  on  dress.  He  bought  no  luxuries,  ornaments  or 
trinkets,  purchased  neither  pictures  nor  bronzes,  forbade 
needless  household  decorations,  gave  no  holiday  presents, 
indulged  his  family  in  no  expensive  dainties.  His  per- 


THE  END.  367 

sonal  expenses  were  absurdly  small,  even  for  a  man  of 
moderate  means,  not  for  the  reason  that  he  was  ascetic, 
but  for  the  reason  that  money,  in  his  opinion,  was  worth 
too  much  to  be  wasted  on  frivolities,  on  things  that  the 
rust  corrupted  and  the  moth  devoured.  His  house  was 
large,  for  it  answered  the  demands  of  his  hospitality. 
His  table  was  bountiful,  as  it  must  have  been  to  feed  the 
people  who  came  in  from  the  highways  and  byways ; 
but  there  was  never  the  least  ostentation.  There  was 
all  that  hospitality  required,  but  nothing  more.  Mr. 
Smith  himself  considered  wealth  to  be  an  opportunity, 
not  a  clog,  and  used  to  speak  of  it  as  the  divinely  ap 
pointed  means  of  his  influence. 

As  regards  mental  discipline  and  culture  he  had  time 
for  that,  had  he  been  so  disposed.  His  business  engage 
ments  were  no  more  engrossing  than  the  business  or 
professional  engagements  of  other  men,  lawyers,  physi 
cians,  clergymen,  journalists,  writers.  There  was  a  pe 
riod,  lasting  three  or  four  years,  when  the  cares  of  busi 
ness  consumed  his  whole  time  ;  but  usually,  it  was  other 
wise.  He  attended  conventions,  made  speeches,  wrote 
articles,  published  letters  to  people  of  all  conditions.  A 
portion  of  the  time  spent  in  this  way  would  have  been 
enough  to  make  him  accomplished  as  a  man  of  thought 
and  letters.  '  But  his  bent  was  not  in  this  direction. 
His  mind  was  full  and  flowing.  Not  closeness  and  com 
pression,  but  looseness,  and  copiousness  were  his  talent. 
His  was  an  urgency  for  expression,  not  an  eagerness  for 
acquisition.  He  was  a  talker,  not  a  student ;  more  at 
home  on  the  platform,  in  the  social  circle,  even  in  the 
pulpit,  the  lecture-room,  the  Sunday  school,  than  in  the 


368  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

library.  His  affluent  mind  supplied  him  with  materials 
for  public  and  private  uses. 

He  was,  essentially,  a  man  of  Heart.  The  deepest, 
most  exacting  element  in  his  nature  was  Feeling.  His 
warmth,  exuberance,  generosity,  were  conspicuous  in  his 
college  days,  and  they  were  equally  conspicuous  in  his 
maturity  and  age.  His  abounding,  sympathetic,  over 
flowing  disposition  mantled  in  his  countenance,  suffused 
his  eyes,  beamed  in  his  smile,  imparted  heartiness  to  his 
manner,  mellowed  the  tones  of  his  voice.  His  affections 
were  ardent  and  constant.  His  lovingness  had  no 
changes  of  mood.  His  letters  to  his  wife  and  children 
are  perfect  in  their  simplicity  and  natural  overflow  of 
expression.  He  had  a  passion  for  children.  His  eyes 
moistened  at  the  least  mention  of  suffering  or  sorrow. 
The  mere  thought  of  the  divine  goodness  filled  his 
cup  of  emotion  to  the  brim.  He  was  exceedingly  sen 
sitive  to  pain,  in  his  own  person  or  in  that  of  others, 
even  of  strangers.  He  could  not  resist  a  tear.  His 
wife  having  in  one  of  her  letters,  spoken  of  the  necessity 
she  had  been  under  to  punish  one  of  the  children,  he 
said  in  his  answer:  "The  next  time  the  necessity  oc 
curs,  save  the  whipping  for  me."  Like  other  and  all  men 
of  heart,  he  allowed  feeling  to  dictate  and  direct  the 
movements  of  intellect.  The  wish  was  father  to  the 
thought.  Feeling  is  positive,  arbitrary,  dictatorial  ;  it 
speaks  with  authority,  announces,  proclaims,  judges. 
Assertions  are  confounded  with  arguments  ;  impressions 
stand  for  facts ;  sentiments  are  laws.  Feeling  is  pro 
phetic,  overworks  the  categorical  imperative,  exaggerates 
the  importance  of  the  personal  pronoun. 

This  quickness  of  sensibility  made  Mr.  Smith  an  easy 


THE  END.  369 

subject  for  religious  impression,  and  the  religious  impres 
sion  moulded  the  sensibility.  The  feeling  became  most 
intense  in  the  direction  of  God  and  Christ.  The  direc 
tion  was  given  by  his  orthodox  inheritance  and  educa 
tion,  but  so  strong  was  the  element  of  pure  natural  feel 
ing  in  him  that  the  theology  did  not  bar  the  passage  to 
the  divine  love.  The  veneration,  awe,  holy  fear  it  in 
spired  were  never  qualified  by  terror,  but  filled  his  soul 
with  reverence,  trust  and  gratitude.  Religion  subdued 
and  exalted  all  his  emotions.  A  moral  cast  was  given 
to  his  feelings.  A  sense  of  personal  responsibility  over 
ruled  passion.  He  was  still  the  man  of  heart,  but  sancti 
fied  and  consecrated.  Love  with  him  was  all  in  all,  but 
the  love  was  heavenly,  like  the  sunshine  and  the  sum 
mer  rain.  God  was  the  perfect  justice  ;  Christ  was  the 
absolute  mercy,  authenticating  the  instincts  of  his  own 
bosom. 

All  his  life,  whatever  his  dogmatic  opinions,  whether 
orthodox  or  heterodox,  presbyterian  or  rationalist,  Gerrit 
Smith  was  a  practical,  earnest,  hearty  Christian,  as  good 
an  example  of  a  Christian  man  as  our  modern  times 
afford.  He  made  the  Christian  life  his  law;  he  accepted 
Jesus  as  his  master;  he  aspired  to  be  perfect  after  the 
standard  set  up  in  the  New  Testament.  The  Sermon 
on  the  Mount  contained  the  sum  of  his  philosophy;  the 
Beatitudes  kept  before  him  the  vision  of  happiness;  the 
Golden  Rule  was  his  motto.  He  assumed  the  posture 
of  a  servant ;  his  desire  was  not  to  be  ministered  unto, 
but  to  minister;  he  gave  his  goods  to  the  poor;  he  fed 
the  hungry,  clothed  the  naked,  visited  the  imprisoned, 
loosed  the  fetters  of  those  who  were  bound.  He  forgave 
his  enemies,  blessed  those  that  cursed  him,  prayed  for 
16* 


37 O          LIFE  OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

those  who  despitefully  used  him,  made  himself  poor 
that  the  poor  might  be  rich.  An  old  friend  testifies  that 
he  never,  but  once,  saw  him  in  a  fit  of  anger.  Then  he 
begged  him  to  pause  an  instant  and  repeat  the  "  Lord's 
Prayer."  The  bare  recollection  of  the  awful  petition : 
"  Forgive  us  our  trespasses  as  we  forgive  those  that 
trespass  against  us,"  subdued  the  wrath  and  melted  the 
man.  The  diary,  entirely  free  from  self-consciousness, 
as  unaffected  a  record  as  was  ever  penned,  abounds  in 
expressions  of  touching  humility.  "  Heavenly  Father, 
may  the  year  on  which  I  have  entered,  be  my  best 
year!  "  is  the  usual  opening  of  each  twelve  month.  His 
candor  was  perfect ;  so  was  his  meekness.  We  came 
across  this  record  in  the  diary  :  "  I  preached  this  morn 
ing.  This  afternoon  Mr.  Copeland  preached.  Others 
followed.  Mr.  Bliss  spoke  strongly  against  myself; 
against  my  preaching  politics  on  the  Sabbath,  and 
warned  Christians  to  cease  from  following  me."  The 
scrap  books  contain  insulting  letters  to  himself,  and  his 
replies.  Here  is  a  specimen  : 

Nelson,  March  3,  1838. 

Dear  Sir  —  You  will  recollect  that  you  sent  four  colored  people 
with  your  team  to  my  house  on  Saturday,  the  i8th  day  of  last  month, 
and  left  th^m  on  my  premises,  without  inquiring  whether  I  could 
keep  them  or  not,  when  you  was  well  aware  that  they  were  paupers, 
very  poorly  clad,  and  destitute  in  everything,  and  after  your  teamster 
had  left  them  on  my  hands  and  returned  homeward,  a  man  or  a 
priest  informed  and  requested  me,  in  your  behalf,  to  keep  and  furnish 
them  until  Monday  morning.  I  told  him  I  could  not  keep  them  any 
longer  than  Sunday.  I  accordingly  kept  them  until  Sunday,  and 
furnished  them  with  victuals  and  lodging  at  your  expense,  and  for 
which  I  charged  you  two  dollars,  and  expect  that  you  will  send 
the  mortey  soon,  or  at  least  will  give  an  answer  as  soon  as  you 
receive  this. 

N.  B.     In  the  first  place,  I  should  not  have  thought  that  you 


THE  END.  3/1 

would  have  sent  a  filthy  load  of  black  paupers  to  a  public  house,  to 
be  kept  over  the  Sabbath. 

And  in  the  second  place,  that  a  man  who  pretends  to  be  as 
friendly  to  the  blacks  as  you  do,  would  have  sent  them  away  as 
needy  as  they  were,  without  clothes  to  keep  them  comfortable. 
Yours  respectfully, 

WILLIAM  W.  CLOUGH. 

To  which  Mr.  Smith  replies  as  follows : 

Peterboro,  March  7, 1838. 
MR.  W.  W.  CLOUGH,  Innkeeper,  Nelson. 

Sir  —  On  my  return  home  last  evening  from  Albany,  your  letter 
was  handed  to  me.  I  recollect  that  one  of  my  hired  men  took  my 
friend,  Rev.  Mr.  Wilson,  to  Nelson  two  or  three  weeks  ago.  And  I 
was  told  after  they  had  gone,  that  a  colored  family  had  availed  them 
selves  of  this  opportunity  to  get  thus  far  on  their  way  to  Cazenovia. 
I  never  saw  this  colored  family,  sir,  more  than  a  minute  or  two. 
They  stopped  at  my  house  while  on  their  way  to  Cazenovia,  and 
stopped,  so  far  as  I  know,  simply  to  get  their  dinner.  Mrs.  Smith 
informs  me  that  they  ate  their  dinner,  and  that  having  received  from 
her  hands  a  present  of  a  dollar,  and  of  food  sufficient  to  last  them  a 
couple  of  days,  they  left  in  the  manner  referred  to.  I  knew  nothing 
of  this  at  the  time.  And,  as  I  am  much  confined  to  my  office,  I  know 
but  little  of  many  similar  transactions  in  my  family. 

Whether,  under  these  circumstances,  I  ought  to  pay  you  the  two 
dollars  which  you  say  you  have  charged  against  me,  I  leave  to  your 
self  to  decide.  If  you  write  me  that  in  your  judgment  I  should  pay 
the  two  dollars,  I  will  send  you  the  money. 

On  the  subject  of  your  allusions  to  my  having  wronged  and  im 
posed  on  yourself,  and  to  the  sincerity  of  my  professions  of  regard  for 
my  colored  brethren,  I  have  nothing  to  say.  That  we  may  both  do 
justly  and  love  mercy  is  the  desire  of 

Yours  respectfully, 

GERRIT  SMITH. 

This  man  was  subjected  to  something  more  than  the 
common  vulgar  persecutions  that  are  visited  on  the  in 
dependent  and  unpopular.  The  prediction  of  the  Mas 
ter  that  his  followers  should  have  all  manner  of  evil 


3/2  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

things  said  against  them  falsely,  was  fulfilled  in  him,  and 
the  blessing  pronounced  on  them  who  receive  it  gently, 
was  his  also.  We  give  a  sample  of  the  letters  he  re 
ceived.  There  is  a  striking  family  likeness  in  all  these 
productions,  as  every  man  has  reason  to  know  who  has 
tasted  the  cup  of  public  disfavor: 

"  It  is  impossible  to  find  language  to  express  the  indignation  and 
contempt  with  which  every  honorable  man  looks  upon  your  conduct 
in  regard  to  the  election  that  has  just  passed.  You  mean,  contempt 
ible,  fawning  hypocrite,  apostate  ;  we  can  see  through  you  as  easily 
as  we  can  through  an  old  sieve.  You  are  marked  and  will  be  at 
tended  to  wherever  you  go."  On  which  Mr.  Smith  remarks  :  "  The 
whole  letter  makes  it  obvious  that  its  writer,  with  whose  plain  deal 
ing  I  must  not  be  offended,  is  a  Whig." 

The  publication  of  his  religious  opinions  brought 
upon  him  attacks  of  the  most  virulent  description,  and 
from  persons  he  loved  and  had  worked  with  in  causes  of 
reform.  He  took  them  patiently,  replying  to  the  argu 
ment  if  there  was  any,  acknowledging  the  courtesy,  if 
it  could  be  extracted,  and  keeping  the  insolence  to  him 
self.  The  broken  friendships  were  grieved  over  in  secret. 
The  bitterness  of  hate  was  accounted  for  without  casting 
reproach  on  men  he  had  honored,  and  still  felt  that  he 
must  respect. 

He  was  a  Christian  in  believing  that  love  was  the 
fulfilling  of  the  law,  and  that  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
which  is  the  reign  of  love,  must  come,  as  Jesus  meant  it 
should  come,  on  earth.  He  was  a  Christian  in  believing 
that  he  must  do  his  part  in  making  that  kingdom  come. 
His  was  a  genuine  life,  pure,  obedient,  trusting ;  man 
like  and  childlike  ;  honorable,  chivalrous,  spotless ;  a  life 
of  aspiration  and  of  service.  His  faults  were  those  of  a 


THE  END.  373 

large,  full,  self-assured,  self-reliant  nature.  He  was  not  sor 
did,  or  cunning.  He  had  no  private  vices.  He  was  proud, 
and  confident,  but  neither  arrogant  nor  overbearing. 
He  asserted  himself  with  the  air  and  tone  of  authority 
that  belong  to  men  who  are  strong  in  feeling  whether 
strong  in  intellect  or  weak;  but  being,  himself,  strong  in 
intellect,  his  self-assertion  had  the  self-sufficient  cast  that 
is  easily  mistaken  for  conceit.  He  seemed  to  dictate 
and  lay  down  the  law  and  don  the  imperial  purple.  But 
at  heart  he  was  simple,  humble,  sympathetic,  unselfish. 
Perhaps,  as  is  the  way  of  men  of  his  temperament,  he 
associated  somewhat  too  closely  his  private  feelings  with 
the  Eternal  will.  But  it  was  the  Eternal  will  he  revered. 
The  beauty  of  such  a  character  will  hardly  be  disputed 
among  thoughtful  people.  The  value  of  such  a  life  to 
society  will  be  estimated  differently  according  to  the 
school  of  philosophy  to  which  the  judge  belongs.  By 
the  scientific  it  will  be  pronounced  nearly,  if  not  alto 
gether  worthless.  By  some  it  will  be  called  injurious  to 
the  permanent  welfare  of  modern  communities.  To  the 
professors  of  the  latest  current  theories  of  social  progress, 
the  habitual  service  of  others  is  harmful  to  their  self- 
respect,  and  demoralizing  to  their  self-reliance  ;  the  pro 
fuse  expenditure  of  money  in  works  of  charity  is  waste 
ful,  and  productive  only  of  idleness ;  the  appeal  to  moral 
sentiment  as  the  ground  and  authority  for  action,  instead 
of  to  the  generalizations  of  recorded  fact,  is  set  down  as 
hopelessly  misleading;  the  fundamental  position  that 
the  issues  of  life  are  from  the  heart  is  dismissed  as  fan 
ciful,  in  view  of  the  discovery  that  progress,  with  all  it 
implies,  is  the  result  of  man's  adaptation  to  his  environ 
ment,  and  that  this  process  of  adaptation,  slow  and  pai*>- 


374  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

ful  from  necessity,  must  not  be  interfered  with  by  indi- 
viduals.  Herbert  Spencer  objects  to  the  common,  and 
almost  instinctive  suggestion  in  cases  of  emergency  that 
"  something  must  be  done/'  that  it  is  in  precisely  these 
cases  that  nothing  should  be  done  ;  the  meddlers  should 
retire,  and  allow  matters  to  adjust  themselves,  or  to  re 
main  for  an  indefinite  time  unadjusted.  Things  it  is 
thought  will  instinctively  work  themselves  into  their  pla 
ces  if  let  alone.  Hamlet  fancies  the  world  to  be  out  of 
joint  and  curses  the  fate  that  calls  him  to  set  it  right. 
Did  he  bless  fate  for  so  ordaining  instead  of  cursing  it, 
the  situation  would  not  be  improved ;  for  the  world  is  not 
"out  of  joint ;"  it  only  looks  so  to  Hamlet's  diseased  im 
agination.  The  world  is  simply  chaotic,  immature,  unde 
veloped.  No  one  is  called  to  "  set  it  right."  Every  one 
is  called  to  keep  his  intrusive  hands  off,  and  let  it  come 
naturallyright  of  itself.  The  reformers  and  philanthro 
pists  do  whatever  is  done  to  put  the  world  "  out  of  joint " 
by  their  officious  tinkering.  Men  like  Gerrit  Smith,  say 
these  philosophers,  do  more  harm  than  good  in  the  world 
by  their  plans  and  efforts.  In  proportion  to  their  wealth, 
their  talent,  their  zeal,  the  nobleness  and  sincerity  of 
their  character,  is  their  mischievousness.  Their  failure 
is  nature's  repudiation  of  a  method  which  is  impractica 
ble  according  to  the  laws  of  creation.  Take  the  fine 
example  of  the  man  just  portrayed.  His  career  was  not, 
to  human  vision,  successful ;  for  the  reason  that  feeling 
does  not  govern  the  world  ;  goodness  does  not  justify  im 
providence  or  make  error  harmless.  His  demand  for 
ideal  perfection  in  men  singly  or  combined  was  incom 
patible  with  sober  expectation  and  reasonable  perform 
ance.  His  independence  of  such  political  organizations 


THE  END.  375 

as  there  were  was  glorious,  but  inoperative  and  weaken 
ing.  He  lost  the  attainable  in  striving  for  the  unattain 
able.  His  "  Liberty  Party  "  was  a  chimera  ;  his  "  Anti- 
Dram-shop  Party  "  was  a  fanaticism.  His  negro  colonies 
wasted  away ;  his  runaway  slaves  came  to  no  good  in 
northern  cities  ;  he  ruined  his  beloved  Peterboro  by  ex 
cessive  indulgence,  doing  so  much  for  the  villagers  that 
they  became  quite  incapable  of  doing  anything  for  them 
selves.  His  generosity  dried  up  the  sources  of  public 
spirit  and  made  men  positively  sordid.  He  proposed  to 
build  and  endow  a  public  library  there,  and  the  owners 
of  desirable  land  sites  were,  all  at  once,  misers,  who  held 
their  ground  at  prices  so  exorbitant  that  the  scheme  was 
abandoned.  He  opened  a  free  reading-room,  and  the 
thirst  for  information,  being  anticipated,  was  discouraged. 
He  offered  to  erect  a  fountain  on  the  common,  and  the 
jealousy  of  the  residents,  each  of  whom  wanted  it  in 
front  of  his  own  house,  caused  a  bitterness  which  the 
waters  of  Bethesda  would  not  cure.  He  presented  a 
town  clock  to  the  authorities  and  they  grew  at  once  so 
parsimonious  that  he  was  requested  to  provide  a  man  to 
wind  it  up.  The  common  railing  was  dilapidated,  and 
remained  so,  because  he  did  not  choose  to  repair  it  at 
his  own  expense.  The  brood  of  parasites  increased  on 
this  branching  oak.  Tramps,  swindlers,  cheats  multi 
plied.  Liars  sprang  up  like  weeds.  Beggars  infested 
the  county.  His  bounty  would  in  many  cases,  if  not  in 
most,  have  been  more  wisely  bestowed  on  the  devouring 
sea  which  it  could  not  poison,  or  buried  in  the  ground 
where  it  would  lie  forever  hid.  The  charity  he  most 
congratulated  himself  on,  the  bounty  given  to  worthy 
widows  and  old  maids,  throve  because  it  provoked  stingy 


3/6  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

people  to  provide  better  for  their  poor  relations.     He 
set  flowing  the  natural  streams  of  good-will. 

All  this  proves  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  social  sci 
ence  philosophy  that  the  life  of  Gerrit  Smith  was  based 
on  a  false  principle,  and  could  not  therefore  be  produc 
tive  of  wholesome  results.  A  conclusion  which  believ 
ers  in  the  authority  of  the  New  Testament  and  in  the 
divine  ethics  there  inculcated,  will  promptly  repudiate. 
For  these  it  is  sufficient  that  the  rules  he  practiced  on 
were  laid  down  by  Jesus.  Beyond  or  behind  His  word 
they  do  not  care  to  go.  Their  duty  consists  in  obedience 
to  the  written  precept.  The  consequences  of  such  obe 
dience  are  not  their  concern.  The  consequences  must, 
indeed,  be  salutary  since  they  proceed  from  divinely  in 
stituted  principles.  The  evils  complained  of  must  be 
apparent  only,  temporary  in  their  duratic/n,  and  over 
balanced  by  benefits  that  are  out  of  sight.  Of  the  con 
stitution  of  society  they  profess  to  know  little  and  doubt 
whether  any  body  knows  much.  The  material  aspects 
of  life  are  not  the  most  important  ;  the  material  progress 
of  mankind  does  not  chiefly  excite  the  interest  of  men 
deeply  in  earnest.  At  all  events,  they  say,  obedience  to 
the  will  of  the  Christ  is  commendable.  The  sentiments  of 
compassion,  benevolence,  kindness,  pity,  are  the  glory  and 
loveliness  of  human  nature  ;  the  impulse  to  help,  to  be 
stow,  to  serve,  is  worthy  of  universal  praise  ;  the  reformer, 
the  philanthropist,  the  saint,  are  held  in  veneration  by  all 
mankind.  Gerrit  Smith  succeeded  because  his  obedience 
to  principle  was  universal.  To  mental  eyes  he  seemed 
to  fail ;  the  work  of  his  hands  has  perished.  But  he  was 
true  to  his  orders.  He  fulfilled  the  law.  He  enacted 
the  Golden  Rule.  The  Deity  who  disposes  will  see  to 


THE  END.  377 

it  that  the  water  he  poured  upon  the  sands,  becomes 
beneath  them  a  living  fountain  to  which  fainting  pil 
grims  will  come  in  their  thirst. 

One  other  class  of  people  will  justify  and  glorify 
Gerrit  Smith,  the  people  who  regard  man  as  a  spiritual 
and  immortal  being,  with  limitless  capacities  of  moral 
development,  and  with  dormant  powers,  which  when 
stirred,  will  effect  his  personal  regeneration.  These,  call 
them  by  what  name  you  choose,  have  an  invincible  faith 
in  human  nature,  in  the  worth  and  significance  of  the 
individual  soul,  in  the  potency  of  the  spiritual  laws. 
They  have  no  patience  with  the  ethics  of  expediency  or 
the  philosophy  of  circumstance.  Utilitarianism,  in  its 
noblest  form,  is  folly,  in  their  opinion.  Their  hope  of 
society  lies  in  the  prevalence  of  great  ideas,  the  sudden 
quickening  of  the  moral  sentiments.  They  are  revival 
ists,  though  not  of  the  Methodistic  or  other  "  Evangeli 
cal  "  school.  They  trust  in  pentecosts  of  enthusiasm, 
in  sudden  outbursts  and  steady  outgoings  of  religious 
feeling.  They  are  disciples  and  apostles  of  Individualism 
in  its  spiritual  form  ;  look  on  the  world  as  lying  in  igno 
rance,  apathy  and  sensuality,  on  men  and  women  as  im 
prisoned  souls,  on  existence  as  a  phase  of  the  eternal 
being,  on  character  as  the  fulness  of  divinity  and  the 
source  of  power.  Such  as  these  make  little  account  of 
the  apparent  failures  in  a  life  like  that  of  Gerrit  Smith, 
but  much  account  of  his  real  successes  as  a  stimulator 
of  endeavor,  an  instigator  of  nobleness,  a  promoter  of 
unadulterated  justice  and  love. 

It  is  not  the  biographer's  province  to  decide  which 
of  these  interpretations  of  life  is  the  just  one.  His  work 
is  done  when  the  character  is  delineated.  Such  it  was. 


378  LIFE   OF  GERRIT  SMITH. 

Let  men  judge  it  as  they  will.  It  was  original,  unique, 
a  singularly  pure  example  of  a  type  highly  extolled  in 
all  ages,  in  Christian  ages  pronounced  divine  ;  a  type 
reveringly  looked  back  upon  and,  in  its  ideal  form,  wor 
shipped  under  the  name  of  the  Christ.  Separate  traits 
of  it,  discernible  here  and  there,  are  commeaded  as  sav 
ing  graces  in  human  beings  otherwise  wilful  and  corrupt, 
and  are  ascribed  to  the  influence  of  the  sanctifying  spirit 
which  works  beneath  the  individual  will.  Of  these  traits 
Gerrit  Smith  possessed  and  combined  more  than  any 
man  of  note  in  this  generation,  more,  we  may  say  than 
any  man  of  note  in  this  century  of  the  world.  No  man, 
so  well  as  he,  illustrates  the  practical  tendency  of  the 
ethics  of  the  New  Testament.  On  this  account  his  life 
deserves  to  be  written  ;  for  on  this  account  his  example 
is  of  general  interest  to  mankind.  The  record,  not 
otherwise  especially  important,  is  significant  as  bearing 
on  the  moral  education  of  the  age.  His,  in  a  certain  de 
gree,  is  a  test  character.  Whether  it  tests  the  weakness 
or  the  strength  of  the  principles  it  illustrates  is  a  question 
worth  raising  and  answering. 


INDEX. 


AGRARIANISM,  102. 
Alabama  claims,  The,  348. 
Anderson,  argument  for  in  Toronto, 

US- 

Andersonville,  277. 

Anti-dram  Shop  Party,  157. 

Asceticism,  38,  9. 

Atonement,  views  on,  82. 

Astor,  John  Jacob,  engages  in  the  fur 

trade,  67.     Transaction  with  Ger- 

rit  Smith,  33  &  4. 


B. 


BALLOT,  importance  of  to  the  Blacks, 

309,  310- 

Beecher,  H.  W.  rebuke  of,  268. 

Bible,  views  on,  82. 

Brown,  John  and  Gerrit  Smith,  234. 
Goes  to  North  Elba,  235.  Deeds 
in  Kansas,  236,  7.  Plan  of  South 
ern  invasion,  238.  The  attack  on 
Harper's  Ferry,  242-3.  His  con 
nection  with  Gerrit  Smith,  253. 


CAPITAL  punishment,  Gerrit  Smith's 
view  of,  346. 

Chaplin,  Wm.  L.,  209. 

Charity,  98. 

Chase  S.  P.  letter  to,  305. 

Christ  views  on,  81. 

Christian  Union,  55. 

Church  of  Peterboro,  59.  Organiza 
tion,  60,  4.  Working  of,  65,  6,  7. 


Church,  Presbyterian   of   Peterboro, 

53,  4- 

Church,  Presbyterian  and  Temper 
ance,  67,  8. 

Civil  Rights  Bill,  312,  313. 

Clerical  order,  the  views  on,  85. 

Colonization  Society,  the,  162—170. 

Compensation  for  Slaves,  231. 

Creeds  views  on,  85. 

Cuba,  annexation  of,  223.  Independ 
ence  of,  349. 


D. 


DAVIS,  JEFFERSON,  memorial  con 
cerning,  317.  Bailing  of,  317,  318. 

Death,  views  on,  84. 

Debt,  The  War,  payment  of,  285. 

Democratic  Vigilance  Committee. 
251. 

Depravity,  views  on,  83. 

Divorce  and  marriage,  Gerrit  Smith's 
view  of,  348. 

Douglass  Frederick,  letter  from  in 
regard  to  Gerrit  Smith's  connec 
tion  with  John  Brown,  255. 


E. 


ENGLAND'S  position  in  the  "  Trent " 
affair,  275,  6. 


F. 


FREE    Religious    Association,    Mr. 

Smith's  Membership  in,  90. 
Fugitive  Slave  Bill,  118,  209. 


380 


INDEX. 


G. 


GOVERNMENT,  Theories  of,  179. 
Grant  Gen.  elected    President,  297. 

Letter  to  from  Gerrit  Smith,  298. 

His  re-election,    322.      Letters  to 

Gerrit  Smith,  339. 
Gurley,  Rev.  R.  R.  letter  to,  166. 


H. 

HAVELOCK  GEV.  criticism  on,  268. 
Hell,  views  on,  82. 
Holley  Myron,  94. 
Humanity  spirit  of,  95,  6,  7. 


I. 


IMMORTALITY,  84. 

44  Index  "  The  opinion  of,  89. 

41  Investigator,"  The  letter  to,  88. 


J- 


JACKSON  "  Stonewall,"  criticism  on, 
268. 

Jerry  McHenry,  rescue  of,  117. 

Jesus,  how  far  an  authority  in  practi 
cal  temperance  reform,  69,  70. 

Johnson  Andrew,  impeachment  of, 
273,  9- 

K. 

KANSAS,  struggle  for,  226. 

K.U  Klux  prisoners,  petition  for,  319. 


LAND,  deeds  of  to  Colored  People, 
102. 

Land,  deeds  of  to  White  People.  107. 

Law  and  Slavery,  172. 

Lee  R.  E.  Letter  to  on  reconstruc 
tion,  29. 

Legal  Tender  act,  285. 

Liberty  Party,  formation  and  spirit 
of,  186. 


Lincoln    Abraham,    Gerrit    Smith's 

opinion  of,  273. 
Livingston  James,  19. 

M. 

14  Maine  Law,"  The,  154. 

Mazzini    Joseph,    Letters   to   Gerrit 

Smith,  350,  i. 
Mill  J.  S.,  Letter  to  on  Temperance, 

287. 

Miracles,  83. 

Mob,  The  Peterboro,  130. 
Money,  Gifts  of,  99. 

N. 
NIAGARA  Ship  Canal,  342. 


O. 

OSWEGO,  Public  Library  of,  IOO. 


P. 


PEACE    principles,  267,   8.     Condi 
tions  of,  304. 

Peterboro,  description  of,  139. 
Philanthropy,  98. 
Prayer,  83. 

Preaching  Politics,  69,  70. 
Prohibitory  Legislation,  155. 

Q. 

QUINCY  EDMUND,  letter  to,  201. 


R. 


REASON  in  religion,  86. 
Reconstruction,  305,  6. 
Religion,  Nature  of,  76-80. 

44         Natural,  76. 
Religious  opinions  and  feelings,  87, 

88. 

Repudiation,  280. 
R.OSS  Alexander,  115. 


INDEX. 


381 


SAN  DOMINGO,  annexation  of,  320. 

Slavery  in  New  York,  160. 

Slavery  and  the  New  York  Constitu 
tion,  173, 178. 

Smith  Petrus,  5.  Peter,  birth  place,  5, 
youth,  6.  Partnership  with  J.  J. 
Astor,  6.  Land  purchases,  7,  8. 
Influence  with  the  Indians,  8,  g. 
Religious  character,  10,  19. 

Smith,  Gerrit.  Birth  and  education, 
22.  College  life,  23.  Interest  in 
Hamilton  College,  24,  7.  Mar 
riage,  27.  Business  capacity,  28,9. 
Land  speculations,  29.  Enter 
prises  at  Oswego,  30.  Hard  Times, 
31.  Wealth,  32.  Personal  appear 
ance  and  health,  38.  Religious 
ideas  and  character,  44,  48.  Views 
of  the  Sabbath,  49.  The  Bible  in 
Schools,  49.  Opposition  to  Secta 
rianism,  50,  53.  Power  of  charac 
ter,  67,  8.  Final  views  on  religion 
88,  91.  Home  Life,  137.  Con 
duct  to  his  nephews  and  nieces, 
136.  Hospitality,  140.  Aversion 
to  Politics,  145.  Faith  in  moral 
ideas,  150.  Attends  the  State  Con 
vention  in  1828,  161.  Conversion 
to  Abolitionism,  164.  Anti  Slavery 
zeal,  170.  Candidate  for  Governor 
in  1858,  194.  Letter  to  S.  C. 
Philips,  196.  Letter  to  Edmund 
Quincy,  201.  Sent  to  Congress, 

212.  Comments   on   his  election, 

213,  214.       Social   position,    218. 
Speeches,  220.     Congressional  Ca 
reer,  221,  226.    On  the  negro  char 
acter,  228,  9.    Magnanimity  to  the 
South,  227,  8.     Letter  to  Wendell 
Phillips,  230.    Intimacy  with  John 
Brown,  240,  I.    Insanity,  244,  250. 
Features  of  character,  250.     The 
ory  of  the  Civil  War,  269.    Speech 


in  New  York,  306.  Speech  in 
Richmond,  306.  Upholds  Gen. 
Grant,  330,  332.  Letters  to  Pres 
ident  Grant,  339,  340.  Old  age 
and  death,  358,356.  Funeral,  357. 
Grave,  353.  Summary  of  traits,  362, 
373-  Judgments  upon,  373,  378. 

Spiritualism,  84. 

Sumner  Charles,  Controversy  with 
President  Grant,  325,  6.  Corre 
spondence  with  Gerrit  Smith,  327. 
Letters  from,  328,  337. 


TAPPAN  JOHN,  letter  to,  148. 
Temperance  speech  before  the  New 

York     State     Society,    1846,    69. 

Letter  to  E.  C.  Delavan,  1839,  7°» 

147,   8.     Hotels,  152.     Theology, 

evils  of,  74,  75. 


U. 
UTICA  Convention  of  1835,  165. 


W. 

WAR  the  Civil,  Gerrit  Smith's  view 

of,  269. 
Wealth,  power    and   advantage    of, 

35,6. 

West  Point  Academy,  315. 
White  Andrew  D.,  letter  to  Gerrit 

Smith    on    the    quarrel    between 

Grant  and  Sumner,  337. 
Woman's  Rights,  122. 


Z. 

Zecher,  George  William,  127. 


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